After our fifteen-year-old daughter Hillary died of congenital heart disease in 1995, a friend told us “She is not dead, she’s still alive.” Even though we understood that her intent was to comfort us, both my husband and I found these remarks misguided, at best, and hurtful, at worst . . . So when I saw William Peter Blatty’s memoir--Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life After Death—on the shelf of new nonfiction, I had to read it. Although my first blog said that I did not plan to review books on religion from the popular press, this seemed like a legitimate exception.
The point of Finding Peter is clearly stated in the prologue. “The task of this book, its sole and entire purpose, is to win your belief that human death is a lie and give ease to the hearts of those reading this work who have lost a loved one, most especially a child” (xii). A second point is to demonstrate the existence of God or, the word Blatty prefers, “Providence.” He sees the hand of Providence in everything. In addition to finding a divine plan in all of his successes and failures, Blatty lists fourteen paranormal incidents that suggest to him the existence of a higher power. But the climax of the book is his description of the life and death of his son Peter, who died of viral myocarditis when he was seventeen. Peter was an unusual child, given to visions and unique statements that intimated he had a life before this one. But he also had bipolar disorder, had been in rehab for drug abuse, and was troubled. After Peter’s death, Blatty and his wife Julie had numerous messages from him: they felt his physical presence, lights would go on and off, dogs would bark at (apparently) nothing. Visions and signs showed Peter’s continuing life, according to his father. Blatty’s concern throughout the book is that we believe his narrative. The fact is, I do believe his narrative: I don’t think he made up anything. But I do not interpret his paranormal experiences the same way he does. They are revelatory to him, but not to me. As Tom Paine wrote in The Age of Reason, no one can deny the possibility of divine revelation. But since that revelation comes to a single person, “when he tells it to a second person, a second to a third . . . it ceases to be a revelation to all those persons. It is revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to every other, and consequently they are not obliged to believe it.” The deeper problem of the book for me is the denial of death that it asserts. We see death denying language and behavior everywhere, particularly in the current euphemism, “she passed.” Many take comfort in denying the reality of death through revelations they have received or through deeply-held religious beliefs. Others, like myself, however, find comfort in the certainty of physical absence, and the confidence that Hillary—and all of our loved ones—remain alive in our hearts and minds. William Peter Blatty. Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life After Death (Regnery 2015). 9/28/2015 01:53:33 pm
John; While my faith allows me to fully accept Blatty's experience, your message, to me, is similar to so much of the Bible...which we accept on our faith...but like you, his experience is not experienced by me...and doesn't need to be! Shalom, Fred
Rebecca Moore
10/9/2015 04:40:49 pm
Hi Fred, sorry for the confusion: this is my blog rather than John's. But I like your comments nonetheless. Thank you for writing!
Patrice Mascolo
10/9/2015 01:25:38 pm
Thank you for this insight. When my Dad died, I refused to use the term, "passed away","passed on", etc. which I have used most of the time in the past. He Died. Period. It was important to me that I tell and feel the truth of that. It was especially important that I say this to my Mom who as Alzheimers. Since she would keep forgetting I made a point to say he has died and show her his obituary so she could make it real for herself.
Rebecca Moore
10/9/2015 04:42:26 pm
Good point about being explicit where people like your mother might be confused. It's not helpful to sugar-coat the reality. I would say the same goes for children as well.
Columbo
12/2/2015 09:49:57 am
As you know but perhaps may not remember, your own book "Streak of Scarlet," expressing a window into the all-too short life of your daughter Hillary had made a really surprising (to me) impact on me at the time I read it. Comments are closed.
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Author Rebecca Moore is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. She is currently Reviews Editor for Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions and Co-Director of The Jonestown Institute. Archives
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