tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post8153449081196335284..comments2023-12-09T00:33:24.572-08:00Comments on Novel Matters: And the Novel Matters Because...Bonnie Grovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11377519561074174038noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-21421887332969876522012-06-05T16:51:27.605-07:002012-06-05T16:51:27.605-07:00All my years of reading have helped me with a bibl...All my years of reading have helped me with a bible study based on the book of Acts that I am writing and posting on my blog. <br />http://providencesmiles.wordpress.com/Lauriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06864853074442454372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-28030799181710836342012-05-28T14:04:13.307-07:002012-05-28T14:04:13.307-07:00Several weeks ago I met a woman in a bookstore who...Several weeks ago I met a woman in a bookstore who said she never read fiction because it was a waste of time to read something that wasn't true. I tried to reason with her. "Fiction is full of truths." "Fiction is a look at life." "Fictions helps you examine the questions of life." She closed her ears and walked away as fast as possible.Marianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12990101542996298555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-77384208508358112842012-05-25T12:42:39.768-07:002012-05-25T12:42:39.768-07:00Debbie that's a great unpacking of that story ...Debbie that's a great unpacking of that story - wow.<br />I've found a similar thing with empathy, not so much with bible stories, but with people in my world. When you catch buses there are all these different people on them and they talk loudly in front of you and you can't help but overhear their conversations, and so much of what they say makes you stop and think "what must that have been like for you? What did you do next?" or images will pop up in my mind of what it must have looked like being there, being them, dealing with joys and tragedies that otherwise I'd know nothing about. <br />People are just so interesting!Megan Sayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15410068162701570057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-76350595627361420162012-05-25T12:36:16.351-07:002012-05-25T12:36:16.351-07:00Thanks for your comments! Don't we also experi...Thanks for your comments! Don't we also experience the stories more clearly in different seasons of life?<br />I was reading in Acts 3 when the lame man was healed, and I had such a clear picture of the man prancing and hooting and clapping, with Peter and John laughing along with his infectious joy. Then, the man knocks the breath from them in great bear hugs because he is unaccustomed to his new strength. And I was laughing along with them :)Debbie Fuller Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09174333267329587740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-12849762231004145922012-05-25T12:16:44.305-07:002012-05-25T12:16:44.305-07:00"A measure of peace in obedience." Once..."A measure of peace in obedience." Once again, the novelist is so truthful. "A measure of peace," story of my life. Will we ever reach complete peace until the final page?Cherry Odelberghttp://einefeistyberg.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-89798469350988288372012-05-25T10:48:32.041-07:002012-05-25T10:48:32.041-07:00Whenever I read the stories in the Old or New Test...Whenever I read the stories in the Old or New Testament, I see them in my mind like a movie. This is the way I read AND write. I think God would have us speculate on the accounts we read. He gave us imaginations and curiosity and the ability to work things out in our minds. I think we fill in the gaps of the stories to make them come alive. <br /><br />As I finish up a novel loosely based on the life of my mom, I see how hard it is to mix fact and fiction when it comes to someone close to you. Does anyone else have that issue?Jan Clinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16617976979678082323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-70348631665291666222012-05-25T09:08:51.797-07:002012-05-25T09:08:51.797-07:00Debbie, what a beautiful "fleshing out" ...Debbie, what a beautiful "fleshing out" of an old familiar story. Yes, being a writer helps me expand on the stories I read in the Bible, rather than just reading over (and seeing on one dimension) some of the most intense stories ever written. Imagine what life was like for Jeremiah. Or Hosea. When you flesh out their stories and put yourself in their shoes, what a depth is added to Scripture. It's seeing it for how it was meant to be seen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-33598639037772504742012-05-25T08:17:29.486-07:002012-05-25T08:17:29.486-07:00I've recently begun reading the Gospel of John...I've recently begun reading the Gospel of John again, and after a trial of faith Jesus has come to life in new ways I never imagined He could. He's the most compassionate and complex, driven and paradoxical character I've ever come into contact with. And the kicker? He's real. :]<br /><br />Fiction has given me a weird and wonderful way to incorporate what I struggle with personally into story. It gives me a way to work it out, think about it, pray on it. I find that through fiction comes truth, which is strange and confounding, but oh-so beautiful.<br /><br />Last night I came to the account where he draws in the sand, and when the men all throw down their stones and leave the adulterous woman, Jesus says something to the effect of, "Dear woman, where are your accusers? Do they condemn you?" She says no, and He says, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." This display of bone-deep mercy and soul-knotting compassion stopped me in my tracks. Why don't we do that today? I definitely want to find a story with this level of awesomeness to write now.S. F. Foxfirenoreply@blogger.com