Candlelight reflections

It’s been a big year for me – and I’m sure for many of you too. My fourth novel, 'Jenna', was released in August, I’ve spoken over thirty times in a variety of settings and sold my books in all sorts of places, plus been involved in the usual family, social and church activities. So now when I go to my computer to pick up my current writing project where I left off, sometimes my mind takes a while to tune in to the task at hand and be focused in the right direction. Before I begin to write for the day, I always try to sit quietly and acknowledge God’s presence, but one thing I’ve discovered that helps me in an ongoing way to remember I am not alone is to light a candle and place it on my desk. Often I can be typing away and stop to think for a while, perhaps stuck as to what to write next – and then I catch sight of that flame burning brightly nearby and am reminded again that God is with me, whatever difficulties I am encountering.

I have been given some beautiful candles over the years – too beautiful, I used to think, just to burn! However, this year I decided I would begin to use my special candles one after the other and remember the person who gave it to me, as I also remember God. In fact, one young friend gave me a wonderful, handmade candle recently that I just had to use straight away. The casing around this candle is made from the coloured soils of the Atacama Desert in Chile and has a special design cut into the sides, enabling even more of the light to glow through the shape of the design. I have other beautiful ones too, including a special delicately perfumed one called ‘Serenity’ made from soy wax and given to me by a dear friend at the launch of my fourth novel; a delightful little one in purple tones presented to me after speaking somewhere; and another from my daughter, featuring Australian gum leaves.

I am aware, however, that not everyone shares my love of candles – particularly some of the men in our family! That’s okay – everyone is different! But if you aren’t too averse to the idea and perhaps feel the need for a tangible reminder of God’s presence with you as you write, I’d encourage you to try it. As I gaze across now at my beautiful, glowing Chilean candle, I am remembering too Jesus’ words from John 8:12: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Jesus has promised he will be with us, showing us the way ahead through whatever ‘darkness’ we are facing, whether it be problems in our writing journey or in our lives in general. How privileged we are to have him walking beside us every step of the way!

But I am also remembering Jesus’ further challenge to us in Mark 5:13 that we ourselves are the ‘light of the world’. He goes on to say in the following verses: ‘A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’ That’s the amazing privilege we have as Christian authors – to put our words out there, to use the gifts God has given us to the full and to seek to shine our ‘light’ as brilliantly as possible for God’s praise and glory.

Go on – go ahead and light your candle!

Jo-Anne Berthelsen writes contemporary general fiction and lives with her minister husband in Sydney, Australia. To learn more about Jo-Anne, please visit her website, www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.

Tragedy and Fiction -LeAnne Hardy

For 45 seconds the earth shakes, half a city collapses, and 200,000 people die.  If it came out of Hollywood, we would say it was one of those ridiculous Apocalyptic movies with no plot but great special effects—except that this is real.  As real as a huge wave of water overwhelming coastal communities and sweeping away life as they knew it.  As real as airplanes flying into buildings that collapse on thousands.   Even as I write we are following news of another earthquake in Chile.  Thanks to the Internet and satellite TV, these images flash around the world instantly.  They make a dramatic background for fiction. 

But do we trivialize when we base fiction on such realities?

I have been reading Scared by Tom Davis, a novel about HIV in Swaziland that I first heard about on this blog.  It’s strong stuff.  The opening scene describes a 1998 raid by rebels on a town in Congo (formerly Zaire) where they murder the men, rape and kill the women, and pile the bodies to burn, desecrating them before they do.  Gruesome stuff, but, as a foreword from the publishers warns, this is reality.  Scared also describes scenes of child rape and near-rape.  I have worked with children affected by HIV in Africa, and I assure you that Davis describes nothing that is not true to life.

We often choose Christian fiction because we are sick of secular writers using gratuitous violence and explicit sex to sell books.  We want to be protected from all that.  But is there such a thing as being too protected—so protected that we lose our passion for justice and righteousness, that we forget how evil sin is—because we have glossed over unpleasant realities? 

I have been following The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog, the account of Troy and Tara Livesay, missionaries in Haiti.  (One of his beautiful photos opens this blog.) Tara ran the Disney Marathon with my daughter two days before the earth shook although the she and my daughter never met among the thousands running through the Magic Kingdom and around the lake at Epcot.  I have never met her family.  I knew nothing of their ministry before a friend passed on the link on Facebook.  But for me, reading their blog puts humanity on the things I see on TV and places my God firmly in the midst.  As a parent, one of the most poignant entries was when they took their six younger children (three of Haitian nationality) to the American Embassy to send them off with strangers on a cargo plane to the U.S.  I felt Tara’s relief when they got the message that the children were safe with family in New Jersey.  The Livesays have now gone to Texas for a time of healing with their children, but the blog continues to give me specifics to pray that will aid not just the general population of the country, but specific people who can be touched with the love of God.

Fiction can make us identify with realistic characters and so empathize with a situation beyond our comprehension.  The Livesay’s blog is not fiction.  It is current events.  Is it appropriate to use these huge tragedies in our fiction, or are we guilty of exploiting the suffering of others to sell books?  What limitations or qualifications would you put on fiction that uses tragedies like the Haiti earthquake as background?  Or are non-fiction accounts the only appropriate way to convey what happened?  Comment below and tell us what you think. 

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LeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents. Her books for young people come out of her cross-cultural experiences and her passion to use story to convey spiritual truths in a form that will impact lives. Visit her at www.leannehardy.net .