"The Lilies of the Field" WIlliam E. Barrett

"A man named Juan Archuleta swore that he had laid bricks beside Homer Smith and that often the bricks flew into place with no one touching them.  Another man named Jose Gonzalez, who owned a cafe in Piedras, claimed that he was the intimate and the closest confidant of the chapel builder, that often a white light shone around the man..."

When my mother died, Dad asked me to take her books, magazines, etc., and find some place to donate them.  I sorted through the books and packed up 28 boxes to take to Planned Parenthood of Iowa for their annual book sale.  Of all her books, I kept only 5 for myself, one of which was this book, a favorite of my mother's inspirational stories.

I had seen the Sydney Poitier movie several times and love seeing him struggle with his desire for freedom and the need to create something of his own.  The advantage of the book is that is allows us to get to know "Schmidt," the name the nuns give to the itinerant worker named Smith, more intimately as we read his reflections on how he makes his choices and how he feels.  However, the movie lets us watch Poitier sing and dance, always a joy.

The book claims to be fictional, but several on-line sources say it is based in fact.  Well, not fact, but legend.  There is a legend of an African American man who came to work for a group of East German nuns that had settled in a valley east of the Rocky Mountains, and the man had built an adobe church for them.  His actions inspired the community to help with materials and labor and to overcome their skepticism, so this is actually a retelling of the Stone Soup folk tale.  Smith, however, only came asking for a fair wage for a day's work, something he never got.  But like the folk story, he gained something in the satisfaction of taking a project from start to finish on his own terms.  He collaborated with the nuns, providing them English lessons and labor, while they gave him respect and food and taught him something about faith.

I'm sure my mother liked the book for the spiritual aspect, but the book also works well as a lesson in how minorities are treated.  Little is added to the film script that was not in the movie except for some dialog that replaces Smith's inner voice, but more is made of how Smith is treated by whites, specifically the foreman who hires him to drive a bulldozer so he can earn money for the tools and materials needed for the church.  In typical bigoted behavior, the foreman distrusts Smith and does not believe he has the ability to complete the project.  It is still the case that we make assumptions about a person because of how they look, and I'm not sure if we can ever fully resolve that problem.

A quick and well-written little read.  Very nice for a quiet afternoon when you need to feel that everyday people are capable of great things.