TWO BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR: Read and discuss two short stories by one of the enduring writers of the modern era. A devout Catholic, Flannery O'Connor, exposes our shared human resistance to  the presence of grace.  O'Connor's fiction is as much about human nature as it is about grace and redemption. Her characters wander around blindly unaware of the holy meaning in ordinary events.

"All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it.”                          

Week 1: October 28    11:15AM to 12PM in the Parlor  
Introduction to the Storyteller "Ultimately you write what you can, what God gives you."                                                                                                                          

Week 2: November 4  11:15AM to 12PM in the Parlor
Revelation In "Revelation", one of Flannery's last stories, a complacent Mrs. Turpin is jolted into redemptive self-awareness through a startling waiting room encounter. For Flannery the mercy of grace is that it destroys our illusions.
                                                                                      

Week 3: November 11 11:15AM to 12PM in the Parlor
Everything that Rises Must Converge In "Everything that Rises Must Converge" the characters' self-satisfaction is blasted by a blow from an enraged handbag wielding bus passenger.  Once again, the path to restoration is paved by violence.    

These classes will be led by Connie Black, are free, and are open to everyone