MishaI’ve been taking a long break from writing, to the point that I question if I can reasonably call myself a writer. I’m not working on my craft all that much, and I don’t engage in reading fiction like I used to. I’m not sure, but I think the last three years have been so terrifying and surreal that my mind simply hasn’t figured out how to have normal conversations, let alone follow any journeys through the fluffy romances and coming-of-age novels I used to enjoy.
I don’t think I’ve shared this with my writer’s group, but my exboyfriend is the computer repairman who turned over Hunter Biden’s laptop. We hadn’t dated since 2009, but weird circumstances put us in contact just as he was contemplating what to do with the hard drive. I’ve had a front-and-center view of the corruption in our government, along with the fear a whistle blower had for his life and the subsequent ruin of his livelihood. I prayed for him, worried for him, tried to be a decent friend, all while feeling helpless as we watched the media twist and distort everything we knew about the current resident in the white house.
It’s messed with my mind quite a bit. I guess I was raised just ahead of this strange academic push to get kids to hate America, and being adept at history, I see it for the shining gem that it is. America has never been perfect because its full of people, but I love it for the idea that it is—a successful idea taken straight from Scripture and clarified by brilliant Christian philosophers like John Locke.
Strangely, there are a few stories that have helped me find solace and equilibrium as we watch demonic hoards attempt to tear it down—stories like Lord of the Rings. Tolkien has always been one of my favorite writers, but now more than ever his fiction puts the darkening landscape into perspective. It’s good for my brain to think about and consider evil for what it is, to be able to identify it and process out all of its implications. This season is about war, not with Russia, but with ideas, with the evil in our very midst. Identifying truth from the twisted lies, and realizing we’re able to do that because we know Truth himself. It took someone like Tolkien, who had been through the trenches of WWI, to understand and demonstrate where beauty is found in these times.
Which brings me back to writing. This seems more like a season of contemplation and shock than one of creativity, but I hope that whatever you are going through, it becomes clear in our literature who God is and the hope we have in him. I pray that each of you is able to take your light and weave it through your stories so that young minds can find it there. They need you in this bleak darkness.
Kristen Gwen
Julia N. White
Very interesting post. I’ve also been out of writing for awhile due to my Mom’s health issues. I hope to start back soon but soon never comes. The best thing we can do in all these uncertain times is cling to Jesus.