Tell me a Story

I love reading novels. Sometimes I look at the stack of non-fiction sitting next to my reading chair and feel guilty reaching for the one novel on top of the endless parade of (I'm sure wonderful) books on spirituality, healthy living, and an array of interesting topics that I would love to be more knowledgable on. But the truth is I am a sucker for a good story. This is why I do love non-fiction writers like Frederick Buechner and Annie Dillard; they use story to portray deep truth. This is something Jesus did as well, which I am constantly reminding myself of when I start to feel guilty for reading so many novels and only a handful of non-fiction books. I need not feel guilty, I know this. Story is good for my soul, good for my songwriting even. And I think I learned much more about my own faith while reading this last novel than I would have by reading the latest self-help spirituality book.

The book I just finished is Christ The Lord: Road to Cana by Anne Rice. I was moved deeply by her portrayal of Jesus as a 30 year old man about to start (what we call) His ministry. If you like fiction and the story of Christ interests you, you'll love her two books on His life. Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt was also wonderful. I could go on and on but I don't want to sound like an episode of reading rainbow. I'll just say thank you Anne, for writing something that must not have been easy to write so that the life of Christ could come alive for us readers.

Thank God for the writers, the poets, the artists. I need these people!