Your dad, Lia asked, was he good?
He swallowed. Her eyes fixed on his Adam’s apple. It slid up his throat and back down as if propelling his answer out; Not really. Not for most of his life. I think he became good, though. Eventually…
So what changed? she asked.
On my eleventh birthday, he came into my room trembling.
Why?
He said he’d seen something, felt something. An experience.
Of what? Lia asked.
God.
Lia held her breath…
Have you had one? he asked. She wondered why this seemed suddenly like the most intimate question anyone had ever asked her. Why something was squirming and flipping and tangling within her like a silver fish caught slyly in the coarse nylon of a net. For she had hoped very privately all her life for a dazzling numinous moment – because how easy it would be to believe, she thought, when given a sign like that.
I don’t know, she said, honestly. Either I’ve had thousands or none…
There was a silence.
— Maddie Mortimer, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (Picador; March 31, 2022)
Notes:
- Photo by DK @ Daybreak. 6:00 a.m. 68° F. September 11, 2022. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT. See more photos from this morning where I’ve either had thousands or none… here.
Live & Learn 
I have to put this book in the queue and perhaps even shuffle a few around…and this photo? A spiritual moment, if not altogether religious..
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Thank you Mimi!
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Again, I love how you talk to God on Sundays, David.
I can’t put the book down. Third way through it now.
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Thanks Sawsan. Book is certainly unlike anything I have read.
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
SILENCE!! … “There was a silence. — Maddie Mortimer, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (Picador; March 31, 2022).”
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“So, what changed (for his father)?” Transformation/change of one’s ways is always a sign, whether it’s ours or another’s. Probably the best sign. (Lovely photos, too, btw!)
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Yes! Thank you!
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Your beautiful photo synchronizes with this day: commemoration of 9-11, the Queen’s cortege moving from Balmoral, and rain-rain-rain to wash away our tears. Sounds like Mortimer’s debut novel fits this serious life and death theme.
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Thank you Valerie. And yes on Mortimer’s theme.
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Your photo is a ‘dazzling numinous moment”. Pure beauty.
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Thank you Louise!
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Once you have experienced and felt this moment within, you know you have met who you really are. No question.
Unravelling and letting go of the rest.. that’s the work ha 😅
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Ya Karen. That’s the work.
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