Doubt

After a fabulous hour spent praising God, I find myself revived and ready to conquer another week of writing and revising on my WIP. By Sunday morning, each week, I find that I need the uplifting atmosphere, music, and fellow Christians coming together to worship God, that church gives me. Sure, I pray and read my bible during the week, but there is just something about joining others in praise that eliminates the self-doubts I experience from time to time as a writer as well as in other aspects of my life.

Doubt is part of human nature. It is what the devil, dark forces, evil uses to exploit our weaknesses. This weakness of human nature is seen even in the not-so-human characters in my WIP. In honor of celebrating the refreshed feeling I experience each week by praising God at church, I thought I'd share a brief scene from my WIP. It seems humans aren't the only beings that struggle with faith, hope, and duty.

 Here, Ailith beseeches Ruark to accept that what he has been taught is wrong, that the light god does still live and there is hope for their dying world if he will only believe and accept his part in prophecy.

***

“The light was destroyed a thousand years ago, we are abandoned.” Ruark said, face void of emotion.

            Angry tears trailed down her face at his words. Did he not understand that his decision would affect their world? She wanted to use the power coursing through her to shake him until he saw reason.

Rain began to fall and the wind funnel tore through the main building of the slave market. Lightning and thunder filled the sky, reflecting the emotions roiling inside her. People cowered and covered their heads.

            “Your mother begged you for one thing. Would you dishonor her memory? Will you not even consider her request?”

            “I think about her words every day. The dark god used Namur to destroy the Light when it destroyed our people. I want to believe, but how do we free something that I can see no longer exists?”

            The magic their merging caused begin to wane. Darkness approached. With the last of her power, she sent the wind funnel towards the darkness.

            “Ruark, without you our lands are doomed. Surely it is worth the chance that they are wrong. You must find hope and strength within yourself. You must have faith.”

            Dark power swallowed the funnel like a beast devouring its meal. 

***

I hope you enjoyed a small piece of Ailith and Ruark's struggle. As a Christian, I identify with Ailith's frustration. Her faith is strong. She holds no doubt in her god, but helping others find that faith is difficult. Like my made up world, I feel like signs are everywhere that if we do not change, it will die around us. And while the religion in my fantasy novel is not Christian in any way, I feel like it still parallels some of the same issues we have today. I hope that while my book is providing my readers with an enjoyable epic adventure, it will also make my readers think about real issues with their own faith.

Do you have an issue that you are addressing with your ability to tell story? I hope you will share it with me. I love to look for those issues when I pick up a new book.