Bottom Line, Up Front: O’Connor recognized that most people live as if shame is to be eradicated. “Ashamed of Shame” summarizes O’Connor’s biblical anthropology. “Man-centeredness is king,” boasts our culture. Glory to man in the highest!

Truth Remains: The half-brother of Christ penned, “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14b ESV). The psalmist wrote, “For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace” (Psalm 102:3 ESV).

But perhaps the most direct: “Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:20 ESV).

We Suppress to Our Judgment: I finished O’Connor’s volume of masterful short stories again this week. I should not say I finished them; I reread them with immense appreciation. She saw man’s problem; we think we are smartest, that we have outwitted our Maker. But that is the pot calling the Potter a fool, and that only reveals the pot’s hubristic folly.

“Lord, have mercy,” remains one of the true church’s most necessary prayers, for we–breath by breath–reveal why we merit God’s justice.

Holy God, have mercy, for if you give us justice, we perish. And the justice that follows is just that–just.

Flannery, I love and appreciate you. We grew up just miles apart, and I know your zip codes like the back of my hand. Thank you for employing your gifts to quicken a deaf and blind people.