Interview with Sara Miles

Note from Susan Isaacs: After reading Take This Bread, I contacted Ms. Miles and asked her if I might interview her for Burnside. She was gracious and enthusiastic. The paperback version was released on Ash Wednesday and featured a study guide and a “A Conversation With Sara Miles.” The conversation was so thorough I had little else to ask her. Her publisher gave us permission to reprint the conversation in its entirety. Herewith is “A Conversation With Sara Miles,” with a few Burnside questions to boot.

Burnside Interviews Sara Miles

Susan Isaacs: You asked one of your gay friends why he continued to be a Christian when there were so many anti-gay Christians, and he replied, “I know who my shepherd is.” I wondered if you yourself had that kind of moment. Did you ever have the temptation to chuck it all? If so, what has kept you here, willing to “stand in the divide,” as you put it in your foreword?

Susan Miles: I kind of assume that there’s something I need to learn from a relationship (with other Christians) that I didn’t choose. …That the Spirit has something to offer Pat Robertson through me, and has something to offer me through Pat Robertson. It’s precisely the non-exclusive welcome of Jesus that’s the most interesting (if the most difficult) thing about the faith. The thing is, I want to see everything. I don’t want to just see the parts I like.

One of Ann Lamott’s worries about becoming a Christian was, ‘what will my friends think?” How did your atheist mother take your profession of faith? How did your circle of friends? Which has been harder, being a lesbian in the Christian world, or coming out as a Christian in a liberal circle?

Being a lesbian in a San Francisco church doesn’t even cause a blink. Being a Christian among my friends and family was harder…but, I have to say, only because I made it so. As is usually the case, my fears of rejection, scorn, etc. were about my fears: they were not about the people I loved, who have been uniformly kind. My mother and my friends have been unbelievably generous

To those who are on the edge of faith but afraid to step into the whole subculture, what would you say to them, what word of caution or encouragement. And to those conservative Christians who are wary of you, what would you want to say to help bridge the gap? (I know, “Read the book!)

For anyone who’s on the “edge of faith,” remember that the “whole subculture,” or even the mainstream culture of Christianity, isn’t the point. The point is your desire for God, and you don’t have to give that up based on what churches do or don’t do. Trust your desire, and let it lead you. For conservative Christians wary of me, I ask them to pray for me.

A Conversation with Sara Miles
Reprinted from TAKE THIS BREAD by Sara Miles. Copyright © 2007 by Random House, Inc. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.”

Random House: You use the phrase “eating Jesus” in your book. What do you mean by that? What is the difference between “finding Jesus,” a term we hear often, and eating Jesus?

Sara Miles: As an adult convert, I think I heard the invitation to eat the body of Christ and drink his blood as something fresh and shocking—- not as a symbolic phrase dulled by years of repetition. It hit me the way it hit the first disciples, who found the idea completely disturbing. To say that communion means we are “eating Jesus” reminds me of how risky-and how thoroughly physical-the encounter with God is.

You write about both physical and spiritual hunger. What do you see as the causes of hunger?

Most of the people who come to get free groceries at our food pantry are working people with kids. They simply don’t get paid enough: at minimum wage, they can’t afford to provide both food and rent for their families. But the scandal of hunger in this country goes way beyond individuals living in poverty: it’s a political issue involving the whole wasteful, over-subsidized agricultural system, which fails to feed even middle-class people well. As a nation, we’re obsessed by food, afraid of it, and deeply out of touch with what it means to sit down and eat real food with other people. We’re surrounded by abundance, we’re fat, and we’re starving. Spiritually, I think we’re hungry because we believe we can only eat with the right people. And we’re hungry because we’re afraid to put the wrong thing in our mouths.

What’s been the most surprising response you’ve received to Take This Bread?

Some of the most gratifying responses to my book come from people who have committed their lives to feeding others; it’s inspiring to hear their stories. I’m also deeply moved by letters of support and blessing from people whose political and theological views are very different from my own -conservatives who think homosexuality is wrong, evangelicals who think liberalism is ridiculous, atheists who can’t stomach the idea of religion at all. I’ve heard from Salvation Army officers, Orthodox priests, radical Catholics and Mormon housewives. Their generosity and openness to the message of Take This Bread reinforces my faith that the Holy Spirit blows everywhere-frequently knocking down denominational and political walls.

What are the biggest challenges to your faith that you face on a daily basis?

Oh, I’m definitely my own biggest challenge. I’m bossy and impatient and I like to be right. My struggle is to try to control things less…to be open to change…and to be ready to see God in unexpected places and the most unlikely people.

What do you recommend for Christians who disagree with a lot of the right-wing evangelical rhetoric dominating the political landscape?

Posted on February 18, 2008 12:00 AM