OVERCOMING MOMENTS OF LONELINESS
Do you have brief moments of loneliness in the midst of your overcommitted, stressful life? You lead a busy life, mostly doing good things. You interact with many people, but, at times, it feels like they are receiving more than they are giving. You are not so much complaining as recognizing that there are moments when you yearn for something more fulfilling.
Consider inviting some good friends to a refreshing experience. What are the elements that might be part of a pleasant evening? Simple food, like pizza or Subways, in a location that permits good conversation often helps. If music is present, it should not be too loud. The seating needs to invite people to be comfortable and to hear each other without strain.
TOPIC OF CONVERSATION
Your intention is to have an evening where the conversation has depth but is not draining. You want everyone to come away from the evening stimulated and refreshed. People need to think about a topic ahead of time, yet you do not want the advanced preparation to be burdensome for busy people. My suggestion is that a good novel might offer a foundation for such a conversation. If the story is enjoyable but the theme addresses an important subject that stretches the mind, then people can look forward to hearing the responses of good friends.
That brief experience of loneliness experienced in the midst of a busy life is addressed by solid conversation with good friends that feels like you can share your evolving thoughts and feelings without having to defend a particular position.
EXPLORING A MYSTERY WITH A SPIRITUAL EDGE
I want to offer my new mystery/thriller, A Star and a Tear, amzn.to/1aTDdgs, as an example of how you might draw upon a piece of fiction to provide a sabbatical respite in the midst of your busy life. Yes, I would like you to buy my book, but whether it is my book or not, I think it is important that you experience the healing value of good community in the midst of our stressful and ideologically fractured society.
A mystery offers us the opportunity to puzzle about an inconsistency in life. Then, as the pieces fall together, we can again experience the comfort of knowing that life does make sense and that our efforts are worthwhile. A mystery with a spiritual edge reminds us that we are not left alone in this universe and that we have more resources than meet the eye. If the spiritual component allows for some independent thinking, we do not feel like we are being seduced into a narrow position but are invited to consider what is possible.
A STAR AND A TEAR
A Star and a Tear, is a mystery novel about a pastor who emerges out of a period of personal grief to assist the police in tracking down a serial rapist who has a religious fixation. As one reviewer says, “This book takes us behind the closed doors of clergy confidentiality . . . [as] an ecclesiastical ‘Who’s Doing it.'” The novel is “not just for church people, but all who care about the quality of human life will find this novel compelling.” That is my hope for any group of friends who come together to share their thoughts about the strangely compelling power of sexuality that both creates and, sadly at times, destroys human community.
THE CONUNDRUM OF SEX
We know that the power of sex to both create and destroy is more than an issue of education or moral standards. In my forty-five years of ministry, I’ve seen plenty of educated people with normally high moral standards become involved sexually in a manner that destroyed their careers, reputation, and sense of worth. Many held high positions of trust in the church, government, education, military, or business and they risked it all for a brief physical encounter. From an intellectual and moral perspective, they knew better but, like an addict, they did it anyway.
In A Star and a Tear, amzn.to/1aTDdgs, I have included at the end of each chapter some questions to stimulate conversation and assist people in probing this mystery. As Jill Crainshaw, Associate Dean of Academics at Wake Forest Divinity School, writes, “Novels whose stories and characters entertain as well as stretch readers’ minds are a gift. A Star and a Tear is such a gift.”
It is important that we have experiences of good friends sharing together. This book is one resource. You can sample it at amzn.to/1aTDdgs. I hope you will take advantage of the possibility of fiction providing you a experience. Your friends will appreciate your effort to provide them such an opportunity.
Check out my other resources at www.smccutchan.com
