Fiction as Light in the Darkness?
In 2018, a literary journal with a thirty-year history published its last edition. Glimmer Train described itself as one of the most respected short-story journals in print. Several writers shared how they felt about the publication closing its doors in its final issue. One author, Bret Anthony Johnston, expressed his concern that writing and reading fiction may become lost passions in these modern times. He said, "This is what I keep thinking: this is the rope I cling to. What if stories are the light that will enable us to navigate the dark?"*
I love reading fiction; Johnston's passion for the genre is one I understand. Sharing stories is an integral part of life and culture and a treasured part of my journey. When I was little, I would hide under my covers with a flashlight long after bedtime, trying to finish a good book. After I blew through all the Nancy Drew mysteries, I turned to authors like Judy Blume and Louisa May Alcott. The day of the Scholastic Bookfair was second only to Christmas for me. Books developed my imagination, inspired a love of writing, increased my vocabulary, and entertained me for endless hours.
When my kids were younger, bedtime reading was the highlight of our days. Having three sons, I found myself loving fictional tales of boyhood that never appealed to me when I grew up with two sisters: Tom Sawyer, Hatchet, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Wednesday Wars.
In my current season, the fiction I choose has to have a redeeming or hopeful quality to hold my attention. I don't want to read books that make me feel worse than the news does.
Reading will always be a pastime that provides entertainment and fuels my writing. But taking in stories from the imagination of another doesn't help me navigate this world's darkness. Even the most uplifting fiction offers only artificial light at best. Made-up stories help me see or understand topics or people in a new light, but they aren’t the light that brings joy or hope to my spirit.
The distraction provided by fiction may temporarily obscure the darkness, but it doesn't drive out darkness. Imagined stories can transport, but they can't transform. I've only found one book that can do that, and it isn't fiction - it's the Bible.
Some days, I am struck by the feelings of loss and darkness we endure as humans in the world. I hear the cries of fellow travelers who feel adrift, unmoored, purposeless, and unsure. Sometimes the cries are my own. When the going gets tough, it can be tempting to seek escape through books, media, and consumption...to elevate created things into positions as hope- and healing-givers. Because without a guiding light, we blindly plow into regions unknown, hoping not to step on a landmine, or into a quagmire, or into places that will make it impossible to ever stand on what feels like firm ground again.
During the first weeks of the United States' COVID crisis, I read a sad story about a woman in a nursing home who had the virus. After her death, it was reported that she had repeatedly cried out to the Amazon Alexa device in her room for help. No one heard her until it was too late. I wonder if, when we humans call out to God, we don't believe He is any more real than a wireless machine, a virtual assistant on the nightstand that doesn’t help. Maybe we see the Bible as just another fictional story that can only offer temporary respite from reality while we are immersed in the fairy tale.
But God is not an inanimate object – He isn't a make-believe spirit or a wireless communication unit, and the Bible isn’t a fictional tale. When I earnestly seek God in the pages of His word, He never leaves me feeling empty. When I open the Bible and read, I never close it feeling hopeless. It shows me why there is heartache and brokenness in the world and tells me how to overcome it. The words on its pages reveal the truth of God's love for humanity through Christ. Jesus said of Himself, "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." Freshly absorbing this truth each day causes light to shine brightly on whatever problems I face, encouraging me. The Bible is the only story I have found that provides real light for finding my way through life.
I don't read the Bible like other books because it's not like any other text. Instead, I take in a small amount each day – digesting it like a rich meal. Underlining, making notes, looking things up, praying it back – these things help me process and soak in the light. Even a few lines per day feed and nourish my soul.
Although I will continue to enjoy the occasional diversion into tales from the imagination of others by reading good fiction, I won’t expect these stories to light my path.
Fictional stories offer lovely entertainment; an understanding of lives and minds very different from mine; a laugh; a cry; a little escape from daily life; a place where I can rest my mind for a while. But fiction doesn't help me navigate the dark any more than it offers hope for the future. If I want a book that leads me and guides me, there is only one story to which I cling.
“Your word is a lamp before my feet, a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
How do you view the Bible? Do you believe it is a place to find hope and refuge? If not, why not? What would encourage you to read the Bible regularly? A simple way to start is by choosing a book and reading a little bit each day. As you read, keep a journal listing every encouragement you find.
*Johnston, Bret Anthony; https://www.glimmertrain.com/bulletins/essays/bfinaljohnston.php