The Third Peacock: The Goodness of God and the Badness of the World

Reading Capon's little book is like riding a merry-go-round for a little too long. I had fun, I think it was a good thing, but my head's spinning and I feel weird down in the plumbing. Woah. He's a crazy man writing crazy things and whirling metaphors around like colorful ribbons. And he just might be right, and true, and more "enlightening" then all those dudes at Dallas Theological Seminary who probably either hate or fear him or both. There's a lot of things I will remember and hang on to from this book. One is the understanding that God didn't create long ago (at least not exlusively) but IS creating, moment by moment. I exist right now, as do you and the duck behind you, because God wills it. There is no other why for our existence. Don't understand? Read the book. And the very act of creation is more akin to making love than to anything else. Can you dig it?And the other rememberable (is that a word? if it is, maybe is shouldn't be) thing is the snowstorm analogy -- which basically captures the thesis (if there is one) of the book. Stuck in a snowstorm, God is not the kind of God who comes and rescues us. He is the kind of God who comes and makes out with us and the snowstorm, as we die together. Then he raises us. Maybe. I have a friend who calls him "Father" Capon, but I can't go that far. Mostly because he plays fast and loose with scripture, both using it for um, weird things and deciding on his own which parts are from God and which parts are the writer's indigestion or prejudices. (that irks me. Capon knows the voice and character of God better than Paul of Tarsus? please.) But I'll definitely read him and discuss his ideas and, when fitting, happily adopt them into my own conception of the Big Guy. It was memorable. I'll read it again. Not Nouwen (Father Nouwen? I'm way more comfortable with that) but way, way better than most of what you find in Christian supply. --- talk to me. [email protected]

This book was a great influence to me as a young woman in the early seventies. Capon's wonderfully uplifting approach and sense of humor really bring home what our relationship with God should be. And he brings us home to the happy ending like the fairy tale from whence the title. No, God won't start your car for you, but He will sit with you in a snowbank and hold your hand. No one had ever before suggested to me the romantic nature of God's love for his creation.