A Comedic Search

Letting Go of God

I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard and long as I did on Saturday afternoon when I attended the theater around the corner from my apartment.  It was there that I saw Julia Sweeney perform her one-woman show, Letting Go of God. Her presentation was in the form of a family memoir, but more than that it was the story of her personal search for the meaning of God in her life.  The search was filled with some very funny incidents and some that struck close to home in a much more serious way.
 The unexpected conclusion of that search was the realization that she must let go of God, both for her own personal and spiritual survival and to allow her to continue on the search. The search reminded me of that of Binx Bolling in Walker Percy's The Moviegoer. Except Julia's obvious outgoing nature and the real warmth of her humanity suggests that she does not share Binx's loneliness. I am glad that I was able to be there Saturday afternoon for Julia to share some of her humanity with me.