Happy Catholic by Julie Davis, An Appreciation

This is not so much a review of my friend Julie’s book, but an appreciation, for her book is exactly my kind of thing, and appreciate it I do.

As I re-embraced Catholicism years ago, there were stumbling blocks. One of those stumbling blocks was that the world of science fiction, which I loved, generally was not on Catholicism’s side. I would sometimes despair to a point where I was convinced that I needed to give up one or the other – Catholicism or science fiction. I was exhausted by the tension between what I knew and the constant challenge of speculation.

As time progressed, I realized a couple of things. First, there is nothing wrong with reading fiction that challenges your ideas. Over time, those challenges reinforced my beliefs because they made me confront things that needed looking into.

Second, there is a heck of lot going on in science fiction (and literature in general) that presents universal truths that we all share as human beings. That’s exactly what Julie proves in this wonderful book. She shares quotes from all kinds of sources – Batman to St. Pio, House M.D. to Albert Einstein. In those quotes she finds the thoughts on which she reflects.

If I had this book back when I was feeling conflicted, I’d have realized that I was not alone. When Robin says to Batman, “Self control is sure tough, Batman,” I would have known that I’m not the only one that thought “Isn’t that interesting… my priest said that in a homily last week. It’s not supposed to be easy.”

And even though I’m not conflicted now, I find this book a treasure because it’s enlightening, thoughtful, honest, and fun. Happy Catholic reminds me that God is everywhere. All I have to do is listen.