{"id":4593,"date":"2019-11-12T17:40:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T17:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=4593"},"modified":"2021-03-18T06:22:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T06:22:11","slug":"oh-yeah-gods-here-a-conversation-with-charissa-fryberger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2019\/11\/12\/oh-yeah-gods-here-a-conversation-with-charissa-fryberger\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOh, yeah, God\u2019s here!\u201d: A Conversation with Charissa Fryberger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Charissa Fryberger has been working on a book of some kind since she was in fourth grade. Now she’s almost completed her first book, A Breath of Fresh<\/em> God<\/em><\/a>. Fryberger, who is currently teaching composition and speech courses at SWU, describes her new collection as a “written mosaic which explores the mystery of living with the Creator of all the universe who is far beyond our understanding or experience, and at the same time is as intimate and close as our next breath.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this conversation, Fryberger discusses the books that make her want to write, her process of reading scripture and how it informs her writing, the origin of her book’s title and some of the collection’s stories, and some basic writing tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Sircy: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charissa Fryberger: I\ncan’t remember not wanting to be a writer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was in the fourth grade, I had read some things about\nanimals going into extinction. I gathered and created a little group that was what\nyou would call now an environmentalist group of fourth graders and decided I\nwas going to write a book. I started writing essays to go into the book, and eventually\nit kind of expanded away from the environmentalist thing and became actually\nthe basis of what became my degree. The 1972 Summer Olympics was going on, and\nI wrote an essay about Olga Korbut, a Russian gymnast. I was a gymnast, and as\nI wrote this essay on her and got very taken with her, it eventually led to me\nmajoring in political science, emphasizing in Eastern European affairs, when I\nwas older. That was my first experience writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wrote a lot of stories, a lot of dialogue, a lot of fiction\nin the sixth grade, published a poem in the seventh grade, and was writing for\na newspaper by the time I was 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was in high school, I got hold of a Writer’s Market<\/em>,\nand I would just sit for hours and pore through the entries, but I never quite\nhad the guts to actually mail something until I had a college professor in a\ncreative writing class hand me back an assignment that just said \u201cMail it!\u201d at\nthe top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: Very cool. So, what\nis your first inclination when you\u2019re at home: are you going to reach for a pen\nor are you going to reach for a book? <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

CF: Probably a computer\nkeypad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: If fourth grade is the first time you remember\norganizing people to put together essays, you\u2019d probably read some stuff. Can\nyou remember a book you read that made you want to be a writer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: Back then? I don’t know of any particularly then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find now that anything that catches my attention makes me\nwant to write and I draw ideas and conceptualizations from other books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you know, I read C.S. Lewis, and I want to be able to\ncraft analogies of God the way he does. I read Sigmund Brouwer, and I want to\nbe able to weave a story the way he does. I read Augustine, and I want to be\nable to articulate what it’s like to be introspective the way he does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: How are reading and\nwriting connected for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: I just think that\neverything that I’ve read becomes part of my thinking and part of who I am. Sometimes\nspecific pieces will grow out of what I’ve read. I think a lot of times it’s\njust the way what I\u2019ve read informs everything and contributes to all of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to teach classical literature. I’ve done a lot of\nreading of the classics and classic devotional materials. I find that I really\nlove allusions. I will allude to something often, so I really enjoy when I find\nit reading someone else. Allusion uses just the mentioning of someone else’s\nwork to say all kinds of things you don’t have to write because it brings in\neverything that is carried in that name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS:  Is there an experience you’ve had with\na book that you would want for a reader of your own work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: Yes. It\u2019s an experience\nthat has happened in a number of people’s books. Probably the first time I\nidentified it was in reading a novel by George Macdonald. So it\u2019s just Scottish\nstories, and then a character comes in the middle of it, and there’s this line\nthat just appears: \u201cOh\u2026.God!\u201d And it’s like suddenly in the middle of this\nstory about people and stuff going on, just a story, God appears in there, and\nit stops me as I’m reading. And I go, \u201cOh, yeah, God\u2019s here!\u201d and I recognize Him\nin in the pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean I can hardly read Augustine without having it happen.\nIt happens in Lewis all the time. Thomas Kelly is another one who\u2019s encouraging\npeople to be aware of God’s presence. And in his writing, I often find God\nsuddenly there. And that’s what I want to happen with my book, that people will\nfind God while they\u2019re reading: \u201cOh, yeah. He’s here, too. I’m not alone. God’s\nhere with me! Okay!\u201d That’s why my book is called A Breath of Fresh God<\/em>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it’s like suddenly in the middle of this story about people and stuff going on, just a story, God appears in there, and it stops me as I’m reading. And I go, \u201cOh, yeah, God\u2019s here!\u201d and I recognize Him in in the pages. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

JS: So that’s a really\ngood segue to thinking about writing as a spiritual practice. How do you think\nyour zeal for writing, your desire to write, is connected with your\ndiscipleship and your relationship to God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: Here I have to step\naway from what I’ve tried to publish that\u2019s necessarily for other people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I followed and tried all kinds of Bible study methods that\npeople had recommended. I had a pastor in Colorado who recommends you read the\nBible through in a year, and I had done that a number of times. And just\nfinally, I said, \u201cThis is not what I want to do. It’s too fast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I developed then this writing-way of studying. So, I take\na chapter, and I read the same chapter until I have finished it. It might take\nfive or six days if I’m busy. And if it’s not every day, it takes longer. I\nwrite a set of verses, whatever makes sense in terms of the content. So it\nmight be six verses, or it might be ten. I copy it out, usually in four\nversions, three English and one Russian. And so, when I have copied it, I then\nturn my notebook on my side. So I write diagonally across it so that my words\nare different than the biblical words, and I just respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After having written the passage four times where I captured\nthe nuances of the different versions, I’ve given myself permission to respond\nvery honestly. So sometimes I’m arguing with God; \u201cThis does not make any\nsense. Why did He do this?\u201d Or sometimes it’s stepping in between the lines of\nit and saying, \u201cWhat was He feeling? Where did this come from? What else is in\nthe circumstance here?\u201d Sometimes it’s just asking questions: \u201cGod, I don\u2019t\nlike this part. Why is this here? What are You doing?\u201d And I just respond, usually\nfor five or six pages. I’m just talking back and forth to God. I’m amazed how\noften in the midst of that, I uncover something that I have written that I\ndidn’t know. I learn something in my own writing, and God will form ideas in my\nown writing where I go, \u201cOh!\u201d And suddenly the scriptural passage makes more\nsense in a different sort of way, or I see a different perspective on it\nbecause I’ve just let the words flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: I want you to talk\nabout the title of your book and the experience you want the reader to have\nbecause it sounds like you’re constantly catching a breath of fresh God in your\nown writing as<\/em> you’re writing it even apart from what the reader may\nsee. Maybe you can give us the shorthand for what the title of your book is\ntalking about, and then how long that particular idea has been brewing for you\nand how long you’ve been meditating on it and practicing it and hoping that\nother people catch it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: The idea behind the\nbook is just that catch. And you’re right, it happens as often as I opened\nmyself to be aware of God pointing it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I actually just wrote one little article in the\ncafeteria. It’s been a really strange week and my daughter\u2019s in the hospital\nand I’m behind in my grading and worrying about a variety of things that have\nto happen. And I was kind of spinning in all of that kind of stuff and sitting\nthere, and I looked up and across the room, a young man stood up from the table\nand turned his back to me. And across the back of his shirt it said in big\nblock letters, \u201cBLESSED.\u201d And it pulled me back out of all of that fussing and\nworrying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, you know, I had to sit and agree for a second and say, \u201cYes,\nI am blessed, God, and this is all little stuff. And that’s what really\nmatters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it\u2019s those kinds of moments when we stop and recognize\nGod’s presence more than all the things that usually fill our lives. We get so\nbusy with the details and busy with what we have to do that if we are able to\nstop and say, \u201cOh! God!\u201d and take a deep\nbreath, then we can move on with the details and the things that we do\nrecognizing His presence with us. Because we forget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, you know, I had to sit and agree for a second and say, \u201cYes, I am blessed, God, and this is all little stuff. And that’s what really matters.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As far as the book\u2019s concept, the oldest piece was actually\nwritten before I had the concept of writing the book and actually published in\nthe magazine about 30 years ago. I’m pulling it forward into the book because I\nlike it, and I wanted to. It’s a piece about God as the artist from all over\nthe country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the first one that was that really was the seed piece\nfor the book was originally called \u201cThe Kings, the Worm, and the Knight,\u201d and\nit was an oratory. I was running a speech tournament and created a coach\u2019s event,\nand I had to create an oratory so that I could speak as well. So, I wrote this\npiece about coming before the king and who I am before the king and who He\nmakes me to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That kind of turned to something called \u201cAn Audience with\nthe King, and that was really my working title for a long time. Somewhere five\nyears ago as I was walking, I came up with this phrase about \u201ca breath of fresh\nGod.\u201d And I really liked it, so it’s really just in the last six months that I changed\nthe title to be that. I have been keeping that in the back of my mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: Well, you did a\nwonderful job reading last week, and the pieces they were meant to be received\nin a way where I could actually hear your voice. If I was reading it on the\npage, I’d want to sort of be able to hear your voice, too. What’s the\ndifference in trying to write something there that you knew was going to be\nperformed out loud versus something that somebody is interacting with on the\npage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: I hope it all works\non the page when someone reads it. I think in a way that\u2019s oral. Many years of\nspeaking and speech training probably affects that. But it’s also often the way\nthings come to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want them to be easily read. I want the theology to be real. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I walk a lot. My husband and I are mountain climbers. I walk\nfive miles a day. Oftentimes I’ll just be walking, and paragraphs will come\nfully formed. I will start speaking them and coming up with them. There are\ntimes when I’ll pull my phone and speak them into the phone so I don\u2019t lose\nthem. So, a lot of times they come that way, or they come in my head so that I\nhear them as I’m typing and they’re oral as I’m transcribing them into words on\nthe page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want them to be easily read. I want the theology to be\nreal. A couple of the essays that I didn’t pull out for this recent reading are\ndealing with hard questions of theology and dealing with answers to things\npeople say in opposition to Christianity. I want it to be real, and I want it\nto be right theologically. But I also want it to be easy to read. I want to be\naccessible so that people can even in playful ways be dealing with real\ntheology and the question of what it means that God allows suffering in the\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m working on an essay that sort of started happening six\nweeks or so ago, maybe longer than I don\u2019t know, that is an analogy to Dr Who’s\nTARDIS and the response from people who meet me and find out I’m a Christian\nand tuck me into this nice little bucket. They kind of write us off in that stereotypical\nway. So it’s talking about how my faith is larger on the inside than it appears\non the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: That\u2019s a rich answer.\nSo, it sounds like you’re still working on the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: It just keep developing. I’m not sure when \u201cdone\u201d is.\nWe’re in the process of doing the publishing work, so I was talking to a cover\ndesigner the other day trying to get the design work in place. I’m looking for who\nthe editors are going to be, so once I have those kind of things in place, I’ll\njust have to kind of call it done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: Do you have a\nparticular favorite in the collection right now or an essay you particularly like\nto read out loud?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: It\u2019s hard to pick a\nrepresentative piece because the pieces cover so many genres. You know, some of\nthem are pretty hardcore. Some are essays. Some are poems. There’s a whole\nseries of letters. There are three trip reports; two of them are climbing\nreports from mountain climbers where God steps in. So, they are analogies and\nways that God spoke through the mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my favorite piece is one of the imagining pieces. I\ndidn’t read it last week because it probably would have taken 20 minutes or so\nto read out loud. It’s about receiving an invitation to dinner with the king\nand having no idea what that means. And it goes into imagining being picked up.\nThere\u2019s all kinds of biblical allusions kind of stashed in the experience of\ngoing and arriving at this grand place with crystal floors, but then opening\nthe door into the dining hall and finding that it\u2019s not grand at all, with a\nlong table that could have been drug out of a carpentry shop. Then it describes\npeople around the table. When I first wrote it, I populated it with typifications,\nand it was really, really boring. So, I came back to it and made them all real.\nThat makes them kind of odd, because some of the people I know are a little\nstrange. It describes a number of people coming in and sitting down at this\nbanquet with the king, and eventually his son joins him and they serve\ncommunion around the table from their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never let an idea get away! <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

JS: Who gets to read your\nwork first? Do you have a first reader? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: My husband. Sometimes as he\u2019s falling asleep at night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JS: What’s one thing you\nlearned from writing the book that you’d like to share with other people who\nfeel called to writing or are working on their first project?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CF: Never let an idea get away! Writing doesn’t happen on\nour schedule. The Greeks used to call it the muse, but I think it’s the Holy\nSpirit. Things happen, and they happen now<\/em>. You have to grab a notebook,\nand at least get the idea down so that you can recognize it again and recreate\nit, because if you let it go, it goes away and disappears. I can’t recreate them.\nSometimes I\u2019ll ask, and sometimes God will give it back to me. Sometimes not.\nSometimes it’s gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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