Our Father’s Tale
Written by Amanda Knapp
I have a tendency to get a little emotional about books. I cannot exactly recall the number of times I have read a book and instantly texted friends telling them I had found a new favorite book. Honestly, it’s a bad habit of mine. Despite knowing this about myself, I could not help but but to text these lines from A Father’s Tale to a friend with more than a respectable number of exclamatory phrases:
“He would try to explain that his journey had shattered forever his longing for a safe refuge from the radical insecurity of human existence. He would say that to love was to be exposed, to love was to bear his pain and incompleteness with dignity as he walked on the pilgrimage to eternity.”
Oh how those words tore at my heart.
I actually did not want to read A Father’s Tale, not because of its length but because I am not a father and I have no sons. I thought it would be unrelatable. After all, I haven’t been to Canada for more than ten minutes, much less to the farthest reaches of Siberia. What could Michael O’Brien have to say to me about my life? The fact remains that even after reading his book, I am not a father and I have no sons, and yet I find that despite these very significant differences between myself and Alexandre, we have everything in common that we need to: we are both children of the same Father.
As does everybody in life, I have faced my struggles and my challenges. I have anxieties, fears, and disappointments. I have looked up at the Heavens, begging the Lord to tell me why, and I have laid down under the covers, believing that there was no answer for me to be found. Like Alex, I think we have all found ourselves at dead ends, unsure of where to go next, just as we have found ourselves sojourners in a strange land even if that new land is no more than a new job or a new school.
One primary complaint I hear about the novel is that it all feels so pointless. Why does Alex have to say goodbye so very many times to that poor Siberian family just to have to come back with his tail between his legs and ask for yet more help? Why is this portion of the plot so frustrating and repetitive? My guess is because that is what life is. Life is about facing a challenge, trying to overcome it, and falling flat on your face, just to get up and try again. Life is about going to Confession month after month, year after year, determined that this is the time you will amend your ways, just to have to return yet again the following month with the same sins on your conscience. Life is about getting hopes up and having them dashed. It is about having to ask for help even when this is the last thing you want to do. It is about praying despite not hearing the answer. It’s about sometimes experiencing desolation and spiritual aridity while not knowing why or how you found yourself there.
When faced with these situations, always I ask why. I think we all always ask why. Why does life seem so incomprehensible? Why does suffering seem so random? Why God? Why?
In his book, O’Brien gives us an answer, or at least part of his answer. For O’Brien and his characters, the reason why the incomprehensible happens is because life is the Father’s tale, not our own tale. Sure we write parts of our stories. This is part of the gift of free will the Lord has given us. But we don’t get to write all of our story. We don’t get to decide on illness, time of death, or the actions of others. We don’t get to say when natural disaster will strike or when a loved one will betray us. We don’t get to a choice in whether or not we are chosen for the team or or job or the college. So very much is out of our control and always has been.
By the end of the novel, Alexandre has come to understand part of this. He has come to realize that the only way to respond to God is to offer all of ourselves to him to use in His story as He sees fit. This can be scary. It has always been scary for me. It is only when we offer ourselves in surrender, however, that we can remember that God works for the good of all those who love him. God brought Ilya and Kiril’s father’s words to them through Alex. He brought safety to Alex through the workings of the Chinese and the Americans. He brought so much physical and spiritual works of mercy to O’Brien’s characters through the workings of other characters. And He will bring us to our final destination if we, like Alexadre, can place ourselves in our Father’s hands and tell him to do with us what he will, if we will allow him the authorship that is already rightfully his own.
After all, the tale was never really ours to begin with; it has always been our Father’s tale.
About Amanda Knapp
Amanda Knapp is a wife, mother, reader, and writer who lives in the greater Chicagoland area. She has a Master’s degree in English from Northern Illinois University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising from Marquette University. She spends her time freelancing, writing literature study guides, reading incessantly, knitting, and badgering her four daughters to talk to her about the books they are reading.
About Well-Read Mom
In Well-Read Mom, women read more and read well. Our hope is to deepen the awareness of meaning hidden in each woman’s daily life, elevate the cultural conversation, and revitalize reading literature from books. If you would like to have us help you select worthy reading material, we invite you to join and read along with us. We are better together! For information on how to start or join a Well-Read Mom group visit our website wellreadmom.com
