Chapter 3: The Divine Interference
How have you reconciled the ideas of faith and of science in your own life, if at all? Was this challenging to you? Why or why not?
L’Engle says, “Our understanding of God changes and sometimes we forget that it is only our understanding that changes, not God.” Have you ever experienced a change in your understanding of God? How so? When your understanding of God is challenged, how does that make you feel? Why?
When did you first encounter death? What questions did—or does—death bring up for you? What do you believe about death, about the afterlife, about heaven and hell?
After a deep spiritual crisis, L’Engle rejected the religious establishment, but continued to seek God in small, intensely private and questioning ways. She says that, as she read a prayer book at night, she came to understand that she had to “let go all my prejudices and demands for proof and open myself to the wonder of love.” What does this mean to you? What prejudices do we hold on to that limit our understanding of God’s love? What demands for proof do we make on God?
After moving with her young family to Connecticut, L’Engle joined a small village church where she “knew for the first time truly Christian community.” Have you ever known a truly Christian community? If so, describe it. If not, what was the best community you’ve ever been a part of? Why?
While she is thankful Jesus died for her, L’Engle says that “it’s the Jesus of the every day who leads me through the trials and tribulations that come to us all and that sometimes seem more than we can bear.” What do you think she means by this? How might the “Jesus of the every day” be of comfort to you?
Chapter 4: King James’s Imagination
L’Engle says she wrote A Wrinkle in Time in response to her inner conflicts with faith and understanding. She says she wrote it as “an affirmation that there was indeed light in the darkness with which I was surrounded. I wrote it for God.” Out of her struggle, creativity was born, and to her it was an act of worship. In what ways have your own struggles prompted you to worship God?
As she aged, L’Engle became more comfortable with “the impossible.” She says, “Finally I understood that I had to believe in the impossible, rather than trying to prove it.” What do you think she means by this? What is “the impossible” to which she is referring?
She says, “I still don’t love God or Jesus as much as I should, but I’m learning that my love of God grows through my love of people.” Why do you think this is true? How has your own love of God grown through your love of people? In what ways can you love people more?
What is literalism? L’Engle says, “Literalism is a terrible crippler.” What does she mean by this? Has literalism ever been a part of your life? If so, how? And how have you overcome its influence?
Has imagination been celebrated and embraced in your life and faith? How so? If not, why not?
Chapter 5: A Horse Named Humphrey
The opening of this chapter details several experiences L’Engle had visiting temples. What places have you visited—human-made or natural—that communicated a sense of the holy to you? Why do you think these places inspire reverence? What have you carried with you since visiting these holy sites?
L’Engle says, “We can heal with words and, far more frightening, we can hurt.” When have words brought you healing? When have words hurt you? Which memory is clearer in your mind? Why do you think that is?
L’Engle believes that self-righteousness can produce terrorism. What do you think she means by this? Do you agree with her? Why or why not? How has self-righteousness played a part in your life?
Speaking of her good friends and traveling companions, L’Engle says, “Being with two women whose faith was deep and strong helped me not only to strengthen but to articulate my own still-emerging faith.” At the time, she was seventy-six years old. How does this claim—that her faith was still emerging—make you feel? Does this idea give you hope? Is anyone’s faith ever so solid that it is finished emerging? Why or why not? How is your faith emerging?
Discuss this quote: “Hate is like cancer, separate from the normal cells, devouring and not being nourished, annihilating itself along with everything it attacks. Hate is contagious.” How is hate contagious? What examples of this have you seen in your life and in recent history? To echo L’Engle’s question: How immune are you to hate? What is the proper reaction to hate? Justice, vengeance, mercy, love, tolerance? How do these reactions differ from one another?
The author wonders where the Protestant resistance to honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes from. She asks, “Is the fear of Mary fear of Jesus’ humanness, fear of the dual nature? Do we want to divinize him so that his divinity makes it impossible for us to follow in his footsteps, in his compassion, forgiveness, laughter? Is there something in us that wants a more unapproachable God? Or is it, yet, again, the denigration of women?” What are your feelings about Mary? Have you grown up with a sense of respect for her, or was she given no special honor in the faith-culture of your past (or present)? Read L’Engle’s questions again and answer them for yourself.
Chapter 6: Who Knew Him?
With her usual insight, L’Engle points out that Satan was not tempting Jesus with power in the desert, but with the retrieval of power, asking Jesus “to emphasize his divinity above his humanness, to reverse the Incarnation.” How does this reading change the story for you, if at all? Why is Jesus’ refusal to take back power important to both his humanity and his divinity?
L’Engle says, “Love is not power. Love is giving power away. Power in the sense of control.” Do you agree with her? Does today’s world see love as power, or as giving power away? How so? In what ways do you see love shown through giving power away? How do you show love through giving away power in your own life?
What is your relationship with your father like? How does that relationship influence your relationship with God? Does God, in your mind, carry similar characteristics to your father? Why or why not? How do you think Jesus saw God the Father?
Have you ever felt “less than human”? L’Engle says she felt this way during a period of deep depression after her father’s death. She also claims that those who hate, who kill, who dehumanize others, are also less than human. What does it mean to be “less than human”? How do we become fully human?
Though she admits that she doesn’t know how God will do it, L’Engle firmly believes that “God in his love is not going to abandon anyone.” In other words, she has hope that no one—not terrorists or child abusers or murderers—is beyond that possibility of God’s redemption. What do you believe? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?
At the end of this chapter, L’Engle asks, “Why are we not alive with joy?” What is your answer to that? Are you alive with joy? What does that mean?
Chapter 7: Fifty Billion Galaxies
We know Jesus as the Son of God, but, as L’Engle points out, Jesus called himself the Son of Man. L’Engle says, “But in steadfastly referring to himself as the Son of Man, he was referring to his promise to be human for us, human all the way.” Is the idea of Jesus as fully human difficult for you? In what ways? How is the idea of his humanness a comfort?
Do you think the role of women in the church is changing? Why or why not? What do you think about L’Engle’s take on Mary Magdalene here—that Mary Magdalene may have been an apostle? How does that influence your understanding of Jesus’ relationship with women, and the role women play in the church today?
What do you believe about discipline in parenting? L’Engle and her husband believed that “love and permissiveness are not the same thing.” What does she mean by this? Do you agree? How do your ide
as about parenting reflect your image of God?
L’Engle asks, “Do our religious beliefs change culture, or does culture change what we believe? Or is it a combination of the two?” What do you think? How have you seen culture change our religious beliefs? How have you seen our religious beliefs change culture?
What is the difference between “faith in Jesus” and “the faith of Jesus”? L’Engle asks which of these we want to have. Which one do you want? Why?
Chapter 8: Do You Want to Be Made Whole?
Have you experienced healing in your life? If so, when and how? L’Engle says, “Listening is one of the greatest of all healing instruments, not listening with self-consciousness, but with complete focus on whoever needs to unburden grief or betrayal.” Has anyone ever listened to you in this way? Do you agree that this kind of listening is an instrument of healing? Why or why not? Do you know of someone who needs the instrument of listening in their life right now?
Do you value time alone with God to pray and be healed? How do you make time for this in your life? Would you like to make more time for it? What can you do to prioritize this?
L’Engle is touched by The New Zealand Prayer Book’s reference to the Trinity as the “Earth Maker, Pain Bearer, Life Giver.” What do you think of this description? How does it change the image of the Trinity for you? Does it deepen your understanding, challenge it, or confuse it in any way?
L’Engle says, “Sometimes I hesitate to use the word Christian because it has come to mean so much meanness and narrow-mindedness and hate, with promises of vengeance and retribution and name calling.” Have you ever hesitated to identify yourself as Christian? Why or why not? What is the reputation of Christians today? How does that influence your faith or your portrayal of your faith?
This chapter talks about the link that can exist between spiritual health and physical health. Have you ever experienced a time when your spiritual health—or lack thereof—affected your physical health? If not, do you believe this connection is possible? Why or why not? Can this idea be taken too far? How so?
Chapter 9: Keeping Track of It All
Jesus chose friends and disciples who were looked down upon by the religious elite of his time. What type of people did he choose to associate with? Who might the “tax collectors and prostitutes” of today’s world be? Are you friends with anyone whom the religious elite of today might look down upon?
L’Engle notes the seeming paradox between Jesus’ words about children—saying that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven—and Paul’s words about putting away childish things. What do you think about these two passages? What do Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13 mean to you? L’Engle muses that perhaps “Paul was in his middle years when he said that, those middle years when most of us feel reasonable and grown-up.” Do you agree with her?
Do you think you had good parents? What good qualities did your parents have, despite any bad ones? How does your relationship with your parents affect your understanding of God’s love?
L’Engle says, “Forgiveness is an action of love, total love.” What does this mean?
Chapter 10: The Faith of Jesus
What does it mean to fear God? Has this idea ever been difficult for you? L’Engle explains that the meaning of the word fear has changed from its original use in Scripture, and does not mean what our culture now interprets it to mean. Instead, it means “the awe of the glorious love of God.” With this meaning in mind, how does the idea of the fear of the Lord change for you?
Why do you think our image of God is so often one of an angry God? Over and over, L’Engle asserts God’s love above all else, saying, “God is making us with love, teaching us love by sending his own love. Jesus came to us with love, and rose from the grave for us with love, and sent us the Holy Spirit with love. Always we are surrounded by the love of the whole Trinity.” Take some time to meditate on the idea of God’s love. How do you experience his love for you? In what ways is it difficult for you to accept his love? Why?
L’Engle says that “our tendency today in our churches, is to try to get everything right side up again, back into the familiar boxes of recognizable laws and customs.” Do you agree? In what ways have you seen this happen in your own faith? How can we open ourselves to God’s surprising glory?
Discussing the life and ministry of Jesus, L’Engle repeatedly points out that, to Jesus, love was more important than the law. His constant devotion to loving those around him challenged and angered the religious elite. What “law” do you think leads the church today? In what ways are we called to love that may challenge the religious elite of our time?
Whom do you consider your family? Are they related to you? Why do you consider these people your family? How has your family shifted over the years? L’Engle says, “Family ultimately means commitment.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
Chapter 11: I Was Blind, and Now I See
L’Engle believes that “Jesus is calling us to choose freedom with all its responsibility.” What responsibility do you think she means? How is this idea of freedom different from society’s idea of freedom? Why is the difference important?
Despite the fact that people so often choose to do wrong, L’Engle finds hope in the idea that God left glory to come and dwell with us. She says, “I suppose it gives me hope because there is nothing that happens, nothing, that is not part of God’s concern, part of that love which expressed itself completely in the Incarnation.” How do you find hope in a world filled with suffering and evil? Do you find comfort in the Incarnation like L’Engle?
In what ways do you pray? Do you sometimes demand things—help, fix it, do something? Do you plead? Do you praise? L’Engle says, “God isn’t just sitting back watching the universe unfold. God does not interfere with free will, and yet God is the Creator of the great dance of being, participating, loving.” What do you believe about free will and God’s omnipotence?
Are you content with not understanding? L’Engle acknowledges that the world is filled with pain and difficulty. She does not shy away from suffering or try to minimize it. Yet she accepts her lack of understanding and simply has faith that God is Love and that he is true to his promises. How do you wrestle with questions of loss, evil, suffering, and pain in the light of God’s promises of abundant life and constant love?
Have you ever had a “mountaintop experience”? What was it? How do you continue in your faith when you are not on the mountaintop?
L’Engle rejects the idea that God planned for Jesus to die on the cross because she does not believe a God of love could plan such a horrendous thing. Instead, she says, “So the powerful paradox I live with is that God could know about the cross without planning it.” What do you think about this? Does the idea that the cross was part of God’s plan cause you discomfort? Why or why not? What is the difference between God knowing something will happen and God planning something?
Chapter 12: My Bright Evening Star
How does the idea of Jesus’ humanness deepen your understanding of his suffering on the cross, or the temptation he faced in the garden before his arrest? L’Engle suggests that his prayer—“Not my will, but yours be done”—was in fact Jesus asking, “Do I have to do it? Stay human until the very end?” What do you think about this?
L’Engle says, “Jesus did not carry his own cross the whole way. Simon carried it for him. So we, too, may accept help when the cross is too heavy. And sometimes we are called to be Simon and carry the cross for someone else.” Does the knowledge that Jesus did not carry his cross the whole way bring you comfort? Why or why not? Do you have trouble asking for help? Why or why not?
Do you think humanity really wants freedom? As
L’Engle says, “We want security. We want comfort. We want affluence. None of these give us freedom.” What is true freedom?
What is it that you want? Freedom? Comfort? Security? What do you truly want?
Repeatedly, L’Engle writes out words of praise, calling Jesus her “bright evening Star.” What do you think she means by this? What words of praise do you have for Jesus?
SCRIPTURE CREDITS
Scripture quotation on this page is taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers Inc.
Scripture quotations on pages this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, and this page are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, ESV® Text Edition® (2016), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
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