How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I had asked God repeatedly to do something about T. Ray. He'd gone to church for forty years and was only getting worse (1.11).
Early on, Lily indicates that she has been communicating with God. As far as T. Ray is concerned, however, it doesn't appear that she's gotten an answer. In contrast to the alternative forms of spirituality that Kidd showcases later, here it appears that T. Ray and Lily are more traditional churchgoers when the novel opens.
Quote #2
What I needed was a sign. I needed a voice speaking to me like I'd heard yesterday in my room saying, Lily Melissa Owens, your jar is open.
I'll take nine steps and look up. Whatever my eyes light on, that's my sign. When I looked up, I saw a crop duster plunging his little plane over a field of growing things, behind him a cloud of pesticides parachuting out. I couldn't decide what part of this scene I represented: the plants about to be rescued from the bugs or the bugs about to be murdered by the spray. There was an off chance I was really the airplane zipping over the earth creating rescue and doom everywhere I went (3.25).
Even before she meets the Daughters of Mary, Lily seems to be at least somewhat spiritual. As she mentions, she left home after feeling that a voice from beyond had spoken to her, telling her to get out of dodge, and here she's on the hunt for another "sign" for what to do. Despite the regular church attendance, she doesn't seem particularly religious, in the traditional sense, so it's no wonder she feels right at home with August's alternative Christianity-infused spirituality later in the novel.
Quote #3
My breath came faster, and something coiled around my chest and squeezed tighter and tighter, until suddenly, like somebody had snapped off the panic switch, I felt myself go limp. My mind became unnaturally calm, as if part of me had lifted right up out of my body and was sitting on a tree limb watching the spectacle from a safe distance. The other part of me danced with the bees. I wasn't moving a lick, but in my mind I was spinning through the air with them. I had joined the bee conga line (8.110).
It's kind of like Lily trances out here and connects with something within herself. Given that August later emphasizes looking within yourself for spiritual guidance and strength, rather than to gods, this might be an early example of what that "going inside" looks like.