Flannery O’Connor wrote stories about murder, self-blinding, death on the horns of a bull, and worse. The darkness of sin and violence in her works understandably repulses many readers. But her hauntingly powerful portrayal of grace in that context is a beautiful testament to—and encouragement toward—devout faith.
As O’Connor put it, “To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.”
I was indeed startled when I first read O’Connor at the beginning of high school. I don’t know about you, but confusing violence is not usually my cup of tea. But over the years I went from being an apprehensive bystander to an avid student to now planning a screening of a film about her life (February 12th, 6:30 pm, Draper 152, CAE Film Credit, be there!).
It all began in eighth grade with a prayer that makes me chuckle now:
“Please,” I begged God, “anything but O’Connor.”
My online school was starting a house system, and all the other houses were named after Christian authors I already loved. I could be thrilled with St. Augustine, Jane Austen, and C. S. Lewis. But Flannery O’Connor? I knew basically nothing about this (apparently?) author except that one of our pastors was not sure what to do with her, per the recent sermon anecdote. (“A Good Man Is Hard To Find”: if you know, you know.)
Of course, I was placed in O’Connor House, and I think God knew he was answering my prayer in a better way than I could have imagined.
Three years later, I was a fervent house leader, coordinating spaces for “fellowship and fun” and championing Flannery while at the same time frantically warning my little peacocks (as we called the members of this marvelous O’Connor House) to consult their parents before reading her astonishing work. “O’Connor portrays the radical brokenness of the world,” I would echo my own first house leader, “in order to portray the even more radical grace of God.” Yes, it will shock you. It’s supposed to—not gratuitously, but insofar as “Christ crucified” surprises and befuddles like a “stumbling block,” as Paul would say.
O’Connor perceived the twentieth century’s need to be shocked out of sentimental stupor to remember again and again that Jesus was born into our brokenness for us: the unshiny grime of a stable, of poverty, of oppression, of prostitutes and tax-collectors, of hypocrites and demons, of false witnesses and torture. Her stories are vivid, perplexing, hilarious, terrifying, convicting. She is a jarring, saving reminder to us of the Lord’s steadfast love that pursues his lost sheep even when we turn aside to our own remarkably grotesque ways. I know I have needed that reminder—that revelation of my own sin and need for a grace that all “human nature vigorously resists . . . because grace changes us and the change is painful.” As uncomfortable as it is, it can be healing and good to sit with that.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite passages from her Prayer Journal that I continue to return to praying myself. I hope you enjoy this taste of Flannery and traipse on over to Draper 152 on February 12th for more.
“Dear God, I cannot love Thee the way I want to. You are the slim crescent of a moon that I see and my self is the earth’s shadow that keeps me from seeing all the moon. The crescent is very beautiful and perhaps that is all one like I am should or could see; but what I am afraid of, dear God, is that my self shadow will grow so large that I block the whole moon, and that I will judge myself by the shadow that is nothing. I do not know you God because I am in the way. Please help me to push myself aside.”
- Event Details
- Wildcat Film Screening
- February 12th, 2026
- 6:30 pm in Draper 152
- CAE Film Credit
- https://baylor.campuslabs.com/engage/event/12035493
Flannery O’Connor was one of the twentieth century’s most startling and brilliant American authors, and her work continues to fascinate readers and scholars today. Join us for a screening of Wildcat, a 2023 film directed by Ethan Hawke. The film explores some of O’Connor’s life and writing—and the way her devout faith and experience of illness shaped her. We’ll kick off with a brief introduction from Baylor alum and award-winning O’Connor scholar Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson (zooming in from Pepperdine) and follow the screening up with time for discussion.
