In A Temple of the Holy Ghost by Flannery O'Connor we have the theme of pride, isolation, acceptance and grace. Taken from her A Good Man is Hard to Find collection the story is narrated in the third person and is centered around a young, unnamed twelve year old girl.
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Holy Ghost Girl Files. I am a Holy Ghost Girl flaws and all, sharing thoughts and words of wisdom inspired by the Holy Spirit! Holy Ghost Girl. Topics Canton Jones Jam. Canton Jones Jam Addeddate 2008-01-10 04:28:26 Identifier HolyGhostGirl. Plus-circle Add Review. Holy Ghost Girl Excerpt Chapter One. The tent waited for us, her canvas wings hovering over a field of stubble that sprouted rusty cans, A&P flyers, bits of glass bottles, and the rolling tatter of trash that migrated through town to settle in an empty lot just beyond the city limits.
The Author
Donna Johnson spent years writing about the mysterious workings of technology, most of which she took on faith. She created, wrote, and produced a radio show called Tech Ranch which said everything that could be said about technology and culture in one minute, five days a week, for too many years.
Through the writing of Holy Ghost Girl Donna found a way to connect the disparate parts of her self. The sight of a gospel tent stretched against an evening sky leaves an ache in her heart, but she no longer flees at the sound of a tambourine. She has been known to tell people she'll pray for them. And she does.
The big questions posed by religion continue to occupy Donna. She has written about matters of faith for the Dallas Morning News and the Austin American Statesman. Donna lives and writes in Austin Tx, where with the help of family and friends, she works at becoming a regular person.
Brother Terrell
Most of the big time tent revivalists have died or retired, but not Brother Terrell. He travels full time and in the summer months can be found sweating and holding forth at full volume under a blue and white canvas. The tent is small compared with the behemoths he once put up and on a good night the crowds may number a couple of hundred, but Brother Terrell still preaches like a man with his hair on fire. He travels to Africa on a regular basis where he draws thousands to a single service. You can follow his ministry on Facebook and Youtube.
The Revivals
The legacy of the tent revivals continues to shape and influence modern Christianity. Oral Roberts started as a tent preacher. Sawdust trail evangelists like Roberts and David Terrell helped usher in the Charismatic movement that swept through many mainline churches during the 1970s. The mode of worship and worldview of the mega churches can be traced to the Pentecostal ethos perpetrated by the tent preachers.
Holy Ghost Girl Canton Jones
Further reading:
All Things are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America; Indiana University Press; David Edwin Harrell, Jr.
Can Somebody Shout Amen! Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists;0003The University Press of Kentucky; Patsy Sims
The Preachers; St. Martin's Press; James Morris
In A Temple of the Holy Ghost by Flannery O'Connor we have the theme of pride, isolation, acceptance and grace. Taken from her A Good Man is Hard to Find collection the story is narrated in the third person and is centered around a young, unnamed twelve year old girl. From the beginning of the story O'Connor explores the theme of isolation. The girl's two older cousins (Joanne and Susan, both fourteen) are staying with the girl and her mother for the weekend and very early on we find that the girl isolates herself from her cousins. In reality she considers her cousins stupid and believes that she is superior to them (example of pride). This disassociation or isolation from her cousins is further continued later in the story when Joanne and Susan are with Wendell and Cory Wilkins; again the girl considers herself above them and refuses to have supper in the yard with her cousins and the two boys. However there is one thing about her cousins that impresses the girl. When her mother asks Joanne and Susan why they are calling themselves ‘Temple One' and ‘Temple Two' the girl learns that they have been told by Sister Perpetua to tell any boys who might try and touch them to ‘Stop sir! I am a Temple of the Holy Ghost.' The girl likes the idea of being a Temple of the Holy Ghost and in many ways her discovery of her cousins describing themselves as ‘Temple One' and ‘Temple Two' will be the impetus for change within the girl.
When Joanne and Susan go to the fair with Wendell and Cory, despite not being asked to go as well, the girl decides that even if she was asked she wouldn't go with them (again idea of pride and isolation). It is easier for the girl to imagine that she is rejecting her cousins and the boys rather than having been rejected herself. Instead she spends the evening in her bedroom daydreaming about becoming a saint. This is important because despite being full of pride it highlights to the reader that the girl is striving for grace (by becoming a saint). This idea of grace is further highlighted when Joanne and Susan return from the fair and tell the girl about a hermaphrodite that they have seen. It is obvious to the reader that the hermaphrodite has obtained grace by not questioning God. ‘This is the way He [God] wanted me to be and I ain't disputing His way.'
The hermaphrodite has not only accepted their position in life but they have accepted God's will and later the girl goes to bed imagining the hermaphrodite (in a congregational setting) telling the crowd at the fair ‘I am a Temple of the Holy Ghost', and the crowd replying ‘Amen' as if they too have accepted God's will. It is through her imagination that the reader gets an insight into the girl's acceptance of the hermaphrodite's humanity. Though the hermaphrodite is different to others, the girl still sees them as a Temple of the Holy Ghost, unlike Joanne and Susan who consider the hermaphrodite to be a freak. The girl's acceptance of the hermaphrodite may be important as it is through accepting others, that the girl is allowing herself to begin the process of being open to grace.
Holy Ghost Girl Canton Jones Lyrics
O'Connor further explores the theme of isolation as the girl and her cousins are travelling to the convent. It is noticeable that she isn't sitting in the back of the car with her cousins and her mother, rather O'Connor has the girl sitting in the front with her head sticking out the window (disassociated). It is also interesting that while the girl is in the convent, at mass, O'Connor allows her to be nearer to grace. This is noticeable through the fact that the girl is kneeling down praying and is in essence forgetting her pride. There would appear to be a realization for the girl that she is in the presence of God. It is also interesting that as the priest is raising the monstrance with the Host, the girl thinks again about what the hermaphrodite said at the fair (‘I don't dispute hit. This is the way He wanted me to be'). This is significant as it is at this stage that the girl is beginning, like the hermaphrodite, to accept God. It is also possible that O'Connor is linking the hermaphrodite to the body of Christ (Host). By linking the two O'Connor may be suggesting that they are the same, or that all humans are equal.
How much the girl is accepting God's will (and open to grace) is seen when she leaves the convent. She allows the nun to hug her (open to love, again forgetting pride and no longer isolated) whereas when she arrived she was more distant, only allowing a handshake. To further emphasis the girl's new closeness to God or newly obtained grace, O'Connor uses the symbolism of the nuns cross striking the girl in the face as she is hugging her. Likewise when she gets into the car with her mother, the girl sits beside her mother in the back seat (no longer isolated).
O'Connor also uses symbolism at the end of the story when the girl and her mother are driving back home with Alonzo. After he tells them that the fair has been closed down by the police after the local preachers visited it, O'Connor has the sun in the sky as ‘a huge red ball like an elevated Host drenched in blood and when it sank out of sight, it left a line in the sky line like a red clay road hanging over the trees.' The reader left aware that O'Connor is comparing the sun to Christ and that the girl remains in the presence of God, no longer isolating herself.
Donna Johnson Holy Ghost Girl
Brother Terrell
Most of the big time tent revivalists have died or retired, but not Brother Terrell. He travels full time and in the summer months can be found sweating and holding forth at full volume under a blue and white canvas. The tent is small compared with the behemoths he once put up and on a good night the crowds may number a couple of hundred, but Brother Terrell still preaches like a man with his hair on fire. He travels to Africa on a regular basis where he draws thousands to a single service. You can follow his ministry on Facebook and Youtube.
The Revivals
The legacy of the tent revivals continues to shape and influence modern Christianity. Oral Roberts started as a tent preacher. Sawdust trail evangelists like Roberts and David Terrell helped usher in the Charismatic movement that swept through many mainline churches during the 1970s. The mode of worship and worldview of the mega churches can be traced to the Pentecostal ethos perpetrated by the tent preachers.
Holy Ghost Girl Canton Jones
Further reading:
All Things are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America; Indiana University Press; David Edwin Harrell, Jr.
Can Somebody Shout Amen! Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists;0003The University Press of Kentucky; Patsy Sims
The Preachers; St. Martin's Press; James Morris
In A Temple of the Holy Ghost by Flannery O'Connor we have the theme of pride, isolation, acceptance and grace. Taken from her A Good Man is Hard to Find collection the story is narrated in the third person and is centered around a young, unnamed twelve year old girl. From the beginning of the story O'Connor explores the theme of isolation. The girl's two older cousins (Joanne and Susan, both fourteen) are staying with the girl and her mother for the weekend and very early on we find that the girl isolates herself from her cousins. In reality she considers her cousins stupid and believes that she is superior to them (example of pride). This disassociation or isolation from her cousins is further continued later in the story when Joanne and Susan are with Wendell and Cory Wilkins; again the girl considers herself above them and refuses to have supper in the yard with her cousins and the two boys. However there is one thing about her cousins that impresses the girl. When her mother asks Joanne and Susan why they are calling themselves ‘Temple One' and ‘Temple Two' the girl learns that they have been told by Sister Perpetua to tell any boys who might try and touch them to ‘Stop sir! I am a Temple of the Holy Ghost.' The girl likes the idea of being a Temple of the Holy Ghost and in many ways her discovery of her cousins describing themselves as ‘Temple One' and ‘Temple Two' will be the impetus for change within the girl.
When Joanne and Susan go to the fair with Wendell and Cory, despite not being asked to go as well, the girl decides that even if she was asked she wouldn't go with them (again idea of pride and isolation). It is easier for the girl to imagine that she is rejecting her cousins and the boys rather than having been rejected herself. Instead she spends the evening in her bedroom daydreaming about becoming a saint. This is important because despite being full of pride it highlights to the reader that the girl is striving for grace (by becoming a saint). This idea of grace is further highlighted when Joanne and Susan return from the fair and tell the girl about a hermaphrodite that they have seen. It is obvious to the reader that the hermaphrodite has obtained grace by not questioning God. ‘This is the way He [God] wanted me to be and I ain't disputing His way.'
The hermaphrodite has not only accepted their position in life but they have accepted God's will and later the girl goes to bed imagining the hermaphrodite (in a congregational setting) telling the crowd at the fair ‘I am a Temple of the Holy Ghost', and the crowd replying ‘Amen' as if they too have accepted God's will. It is through her imagination that the reader gets an insight into the girl's acceptance of the hermaphrodite's humanity. Though the hermaphrodite is different to others, the girl still sees them as a Temple of the Holy Ghost, unlike Joanne and Susan who consider the hermaphrodite to be a freak. The girl's acceptance of the hermaphrodite may be important as it is through accepting others, that the girl is allowing herself to begin the process of being open to grace.
Holy Ghost Girl Canton Jones Lyrics
O'Connor further explores the theme of isolation as the girl and her cousins are travelling to the convent. It is noticeable that she isn't sitting in the back of the car with her cousins and her mother, rather O'Connor has the girl sitting in the front with her head sticking out the window (disassociated). It is also interesting that while the girl is in the convent, at mass, O'Connor allows her to be nearer to grace. This is noticeable through the fact that the girl is kneeling down praying and is in essence forgetting her pride. There would appear to be a realization for the girl that she is in the presence of God. It is also interesting that as the priest is raising the monstrance with the Host, the girl thinks again about what the hermaphrodite said at the fair (‘I don't dispute hit. This is the way He wanted me to be'). This is significant as it is at this stage that the girl is beginning, like the hermaphrodite, to accept God. It is also possible that O'Connor is linking the hermaphrodite to the body of Christ (Host). By linking the two O'Connor may be suggesting that they are the same, or that all humans are equal.
How much the girl is accepting God's will (and open to grace) is seen when she leaves the convent. She allows the nun to hug her (open to love, again forgetting pride and no longer isolated) whereas when she arrived she was more distant, only allowing a handshake. To further emphasis the girl's new closeness to God or newly obtained grace, O'Connor uses the symbolism of the nuns cross striking the girl in the face as she is hugging her. Likewise when she gets into the car with her mother, the girl sits beside her mother in the back seat (no longer isolated).
O'Connor also uses symbolism at the end of the story when the girl and her mother are driving back home with Alonzo. After he tells them that the fair has been closed down by the police after the local preachers visited it, O'Connor has the sun in the sky as ‘a huge red ball like an elevated Host drenched in blood and when it sank out of sight, it left a line in the sky line like a red clay road hanging over the trees.' The reader left aware that O'Connor is comparing the sun to Christ and that the girl remains in the presence of God, no longer isolating herself.
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