The God Box by Alex Sanchez

Despite six years of CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) in my youth, I never felt confident in my knowledge of Catholicism, or even of the (Christian) Bible. In fact, it’s really only been in the last couple of years that I’ve listened and learned in such a way that I feel able to begin to speak coherently about Jesus’ teachings and what the Bible says.

(I still have so much to learn, but I definitely feel as if I’m off to a good start!)

Certainly, when I was in high school, my knowledge didn’t include being about to quote specific passages from the Bible, or reference specific books, chapters, and verses as the characters in Alex Sanchez’s The God Box do with seeming ease.

We get a glimpse of how the main character, Paul (Pablo) came to ask Jesus to come live in his heart (44-46) after his father, who had turned to alcohol to (not) deal with the death of his wife/Paul’s mother, had invited Jesus into his heart to help make him new. How the other characters developed their sense of faith, spirituality, and religion, however aren’t really explored.

Although to some degree the lack of this background information makes the world Sanchez establishes for this novel more foreign to me, at the same time it’s refreshing that religion/Christianity is such a prominent factor in The God Box that it is naturalized in many ways. Beginning here is exactly what allows us to go through the journey of Paul’s reconciliation of Christianity and homosexuality in the course of the book. If Sanchez had taken the time to try and give us the personal religious history of his characters, he wouldn’t have had the time to address the passages that are too often used to condemn homosexuality, or the passages that are too often overlooked to convey God’s love for us all.

The discussions among and between characters around these sets of passages is but one of the many accomplishments in Sanchez’s The God Box. That these discussions are taking place among young adults adds to their significance. The manner in which Sanchez is able to convey his characters’ devotion as well as their deep critical thinking and questioning of the Bible is inspiring. I admire conviction and passion in people, and Sanchez makes clear the extent to which Paul, Manuel, and Angie exude these things in relationship to their Christianity.

The rigor with which the characters in The God Box explore and interpret various passages of the Bible was alluring, and served to connect me not only to the novel’s characters, but also to the Christian message of love and acceptance of all.

Having come into my own as a queer Catholic these past couple of years, The God Box certainly provided me with information on interpretations of the Bible that clearly indicated God’s bottom line of love. More so, however, this latest novel by Alex Sanchez did wonders in confirming that I am not alone as a queer Catholic of color!

As always, some of my favorite passages:

Sanchez, Alex. The God Box. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007.

(46) I quickly grew to love this church. The music made me want to sing. The swaying and dancing gave me the feeling of worshipping with my whole body, not just my thoughts.

(65) “What’s unnatural is homophobia. Homo sapiens is the only species in all of nature that responds with hate to homosexuality.”

(68) “You know the most amazing thing about Jesus?” Manuel exclaimed. “It’s not that he performed miracles. It’s that he was who he was, no matter what. He raged at religious leaders, questioned prophets, and challenged teachers to stop being dishonest hypocrites, knowing he’d get slammed for it. Jesus hung out with outcasts and sinners because they weren’t pretending to be anything other than who they were. He had the courage to be himself, every time he encountered anyone—whether it was a leper of a temple leader, a fisherman or a rich young ruler. He was true to who he was—always and everywhere—and that’s what he calls us to do. To follow Jesus means that we’ve got to be real.”

(68-69) “Don’t you see?” Manuel’s voice filled with passion. “Jesus [end page 68] didn’t only command us to love God, one another, and ourselves. He showed us how: by being himself, by being real, whether he was accepting the cheers of the palm-waving crowd or later hanging on the cross, questioning God and forgiving those who jeered him. His message stayed the same: Be true to who you are, knowing the cost. How else can you worship the Creator of all being, the great ‘I am,’ except by being the person that God created you to be? Have the guts to be real!”

(71) “I think we’ve created God in our image, instead of the other way around. It’s like we’ve built this little box and tried to cram the infinity of God into it, too afraid that if we let him out, she might challenge us too much.”

(106) “It’s not always easy to give thanks…” Pastor’s voice was solemn. “But that’s what God calls us to do. Because those tough things are what break our hearts open and allow Jesus to come inside.”

(198) “God is great, Pablito. Don’t be afraid to be angry with him. Let him know what’s in your heart—all of it. He can take it. He can take more than you could ever give him. Just don’t give up.”

(225) It wasn’t a hard kiss, or very long, but it held my whole heart. And with that gentle kiss, all my doubts, guilt, and uncertainties vanished for a moment, replaced by a million possibilities. This was how it was supposed to feel: natural and real. It was how I was supposed to feel—to have life and have it more abundantly.

(228) “I need you to teach me how to love.”
“You already know that,” he whispered back, tears running down his own cheeks. “You’re born knowing that. You just needed to learn to let it out.”

(238) “Amigo,” Manuel insisted. “Are you ever going to stop living in fear?” He raised his finger and wagged it at me, preaching: “’For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’”

(247) One other big change is that I’ve started going by Pablo once more, instead of Paul, and I’ve started speaking Spanish again. Those are small steps in reclaiming my Mexican heritage, but huge pieces in making me whole.