I plucked The Lilies of the Field off of a public library shelf back in March. It’s dust cover attracted me, then the memory of the movie by the same name that starred Sidney Poitier. The movie is a classic that I enjoy anew each time I see it. It never occurred to me that it was adapted from a book. The book followed me home and then languished in my book bag, on my night stand, atop a coffee table and on the front seat of the car. I renewed it online (isn’t it wonderful to be able to do that?) and I brought it with up to Minnesota last week.
What better weekend to read Lilies of the Field than Easter weekend?
William E. Barrett’s book, a novella, tells the story of a black itinerant worker, traveling across the southwest in his station wagon. He comes across a small group of women putting up fence posts and soon discovers that they are German Catholic nuns who immigrated from Communist Germany. The Mother Superior, Mother Maria Marthe, believes that Homer Smith (Schmidt in her German accent) was sent by God to build a chapel in the desert. Schmidt is the answer to their prayers.
Homer agrees to repair the convent roof. He has no intention of building a chapel. Mother Marthe has her own intentions, however, and Schmidt soon finds himself taking the nuns into town for Sunday mass, excavating a burned out home site, and building a chapel. He is never paid for his work but is fed, eating his meals with the small group of nuns. He helps them learn English and they sing in the evening as he plays his guitar. The music, always a great stabilizer of differences, is sung in English and Latin and Spanish. Together, they sing Catholic and Baptist hymns along with Negro spirituals and they find a common bond in a mix of cultures and religions.
The townspeople slowly come to help as well, donating bricks and slowly working alongside Homer as he builds a chapel in the desert. He makes some money at a side job and is able to buy materials and food to share with the sisters. He even buys them a scavenged bathtub. They, in turn, share the crops they harvest.
At fifty years, this tender story touches gently upon issues of race and religion that remain in our culture today. It also touches upon the power of faith in the impossibilities of life.
The title comes from Gospel, the Book of Matthew:
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?’ (Matthew 6:28-30)
Reading this short book of about 170 pages was like picking a lily out of the fields.
How fascinating. I did a dissertation on Black Hollywood at university, way back in the 1970s, and was familar with the film at that stage, but never knew about the book. I love the book’s dust cover image. A great find. Janice
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Isn’t it a wonderful illustration, Janice? I’d nab this up in an instant if I ever came across it in a used book store. I believe it has been recently reissued for the 50th anniversary of its printing. I meant to mention in my post that there were passages underlined, in ink, gasp, making me think the book was used at one time for high school. If the cover had not caught my eye, I would not have known a book existed before the movie.
How interesting that must have been to study Black Hollywood, Janice.
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I will be looking for this book. It looks wonderful! I remember the movie well. It used to be among the movies that would be shown on television around Easter time. The clip brught back memories of watching this with Mom on a Saturday and then driving everyone crazy as we sang “Amen” over and over. Mom could actually sing in tune. hee hee, I tried.
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I am sure you would enjoy the book, Janet. Homer is such a good man. It takes him a time to figure out the women are nuns. They don’t see him as a man of color, just their gift from God, which, of course, he struggles with, not liking the idea of belonging to anyone. I wish I had read this in high school and had been able to discuss all the nuances. As I mentioned above to Janice, I think it has been reissued for its 50th anniversary. I was hoping the movie would play somewhere on the gazilions of channels, but didn’t come across it. What a fond memory of you with your mom. I always want to sing “Amen” at the top of my lungs, even if out of tune. When folks are around, I’ll just do the clapping part. Amen.
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I have never seen The Lilies of The Field, or read it, Penny. But is sounds a lovely read, and watch. Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
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Oh, do try to get ahold of the movie, Kate. It is so beautifully told. Felix and Maddie, especially Maddie, are at good ages to understand the movie; the racial nuances, the differences in cultures with not only the nuns but the villagers who are Mexican, the religious differences, and, more importantly, the way we are all the same.
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Penny, I must put this on my list. I have seen snippets of the movie, because I have always loved Sidney Poitier, but I haven’t read the book or seen the complete movie. I love how I find things on your blog.
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What a sweet thing to say, Andra. I’m so glad you do. Thank you.
If you love Sidney Poitier then you must see the movie. It is one of his finest performances, and you know he has so many.
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I didn’t know either that the movie was adapted from a book, but I have always loved it and watched the whole of it, and sometimes only parts of it, many times. I’d gladly watch it again. The story is beautiful, timeless, and evocative of the sweeter aspects of life. Thanks for this.
(Loved the photos you’ve shared of that beautiful granddaughter of yours.)
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You are so very welcome, Karen. I appreciate how you encapsulated the movie as “. . . beautiful, timeless, and evocative of the sweeter aspects of life.” That says it perfectly.
Thank you. It’s fun to share.
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What a fascinating book, and amazing movie clip.
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Thank you, Juliet.
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Penny, I read the book many years ago when i was working at the library and loved it, but have never seen the film, an omission I hope to repair some day.
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I think you would appreciate the movie, Perpetua. It is well done film. I wish I had read the book earlier, but was thrilled to discover it at this point in life.
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I, too, know the film, Penny, but not the book. It sounds like a wonderful book, and I know I’d enjoy it. Like most readers, we tend to enjoy the books even more than the films! And yes, isn’t it great to be able to contact the library over the internet! I recently downloaded a book to my iPad Kindle app the other day…I didn’t need something to read, I just had to see how it worked! I was amazed. This is an older book, so I might see if it is one of the available titles. It was the perfect title for Easter…Debra
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What many are saying about Kindle and such is the ease and finding older and out-of-print books, often for free, Debra, which I’m sure you are aware of. Good for you. Technology has afforded us all sorts of new avenues, hasn’t it? I think you would enjoy this book. I hope you had a good weekend.
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Had no idea the movie came from a book — now I want to read it AND re-watch the movie.
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You will love doing both! Isn’t it fun to keep learning this new things? Enjoy.
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Dear Penny, thanks for sharing with us your discovery of the novella and your remembrance of the movie as well as the clip. I’ll try to get both at the library. Truly, whoever created the first lending library was a futuristic thinker–maybe it was a Roman emperor as the Romans had great libraries. Maybe Claudius as he was a real scholar.
The following sentence of yours epitomizes your great gift for finding the essence of experience: “It also touches upon the power of faith in the impossibilities of life.” Thank you for those words.
Peace.
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Dee, how special to see you comment here. Hope all is well with you.
There are so many subtle aspects of this story, both as a movie and a book, that I think you will find interesting as well as entertaining. Fifty years ago, a little less for the movie, a story about a man of color and German nuns living in the desert in the US would have been a very big deal, as you know from your activities of the sixties and seventies.
Now, wouldn’t that be a fun topic to explore? The first lending libraries? I’ll have to put that bee in my bonnet for another time – or perhaps you will find the answer sooner. We visited the Benjamin Franklin Free LIbrary in Philadelphia a few years ago. I was aptly impressed.
I just returned from one of the libraries in our inter-loan system with three more books, free to me. Of course, I’ll never read them all, but I will keep them in circulation.
Thank you, Dee. That means a great deal to me to have you say this.
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One of my favorite movies when I was a child and I just love this part of it shown in the video!
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Isn’t it a wonderful scene? I kept hoping it would play during Easter, but couldn’t find it anywhere.
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