Ethan Hawke and the phrase, a man of letters, is not a connection that comes to mind when someone mentions his name.  Probably my two favorite movies that he has acted are Great Expectations and Gattaca.  Also, when one thinks of Ethan Hawke, the season of Lent does not come to mind as well.

What some may not know is that Mr. Hawke has written a few novels.  His second novel, Ash Wednesday was published in 2002. I have had it on my bookshelf since it was published but have never read it all the way through. My pile of unfinished novels is not just this one but more than a few.

I have picked it up over the years, but this Lent I have once again started from the beginning.  Each time I started it, I am moved by his characterization and the similarity of the banter that can be found in Quentin Tarantino movies.

Here are a few quotations for you to mull over:

Grace
“He told me that the definition of grace is the ability to accept change.”

Manhood
He said I needed to start calculating my masculinity not by the amount of __________ I could grab, or how many girls I could ________, but by how true I could be with one girl.  How infrequently I could lie.  How often I should show up when I was needed. How willing I was to love the life I had rather that covet the lives of others.”

Freedom
“Creation didn’t happen.  It’s happening.  Grace will come as you acknowledge how much of eery instant is beyond your control…That is freedom. People in this country believe freedom is the ability to choose—I choose a Cadillac over a Buick; I’m a Cadillac man; our only avenue toward more choice is more money–but choice and money are not freedom…There is a right kind of dissatisfaction.  There’s void within us that cannot be filled.  This void is our need for God.  You must search for and stay with the longing.”

I am at the midway point in the novel, perhaps Lent 2020, the year of the Coronavirus is the right time for me to finish the novel.  Perhaps more thoughts later…