I had similar experiences from the writings of C S Lewis and G K Chesterton in the early 80… before you began writing… so I’m not really in the group you’re asking. But if my progress is relevant—I think it was related to a bit in THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS where Screwtape says something like, “whenever he thinks of devils, make him think of a man in red tights with horns and a pitchfork, and then tell him since he can’t believe in THAT, therefore he can’t believe in YOU. It’s a classic method of confusing them.”
Classic it may be, but it’s vulnerable to anything that directs the victim’s imagination to a serious, mature conception of spiritual beings for an extended period of time. Even the willing suspension of disbelief accorded to a fantasy novel can be enough to make the reader pause and reconsider just why the subjects of our faith couldn’t really be true… and realize that, of course, they can.
I was already back among the faithful by the time I read your Catholic vampire and St Tommy books, but they could have done the trick if I hadn’t been.
There once was a guy named Jimbo. He read a series called St Tommy NYPD. In that series, the aforementioned saint has a home for wayward girls who once made their money by providing sexual favors. Jimbo respected that.
Jimbo, however, doesn't have the funding to build a home like that. But he does have a love of God. And, while he doesn't always make sense to people (and brother, if you've never described a fictitious Catholic saint as "The kind of Christian I've always wanted to be" in a Protestant church you can't truly appreciate the looks I... err... Jimbo got when "he" did it.) he does see himself as having some type of an obligation to do God's work. That makes sense to lots of people. Jimbo sees them doing it all the time.
And so, inspired in part by one Thomas Nolan, Jimbo has been making inquiries in beginning a prison ministry through his own church. He'd like to think that St. Tommy would approve. Tommy himself seemed to understand that it was important to minister to ALL of God's children and not just those who followed society's rules and Tommy was a cop.
Now, Jimbo told God he'd do it. He never told God he KNEW HOW to do it and there's probably going to be a process before he can get started. But, once he gets there, he'll serve with the love of his Lord, and the inspiration provided by one Catholic saint who never actually existed.
Funny enough, that was something my father did -- he found people in need, we had a guest room. In his case, the people he found in his daily work life were all college students. When it came to Tommy, it just made sense he would do the same for people he found on the Job.
I had similar experiences from the writings of C S Lewis and G K Chesterton in the early 80… before you began writing… so I’m not really in the group you’re asking. But if my progress is relevant—I think it was related to a bit in THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS where Screwtape says something like, “whenever he thinks of devils, make him think of a man in red tights with horns and a pitchfork, and then tell him since he can’t believe in THAT, therefore he can’t believe in YOU. It’s a classic method of confusing them.”
Classic it may be, but it’s vulnerable to anything that directs the victim’s imagination to a serious, mature conception of spiritual beings for an extended period of time. Even the willing suspension of disbelief accorded to a fantasy novel can be enough to make the reader pause and reconsider just why the subjects of our faith couldn’t really be true… and realize that, of course, they can.
I was already back among the faithful by the time I read your Catholic vampire and St Tommy books, but they could have done the trick if I hadn’t been.
True Story...
There once was a guy named Jimbo. He read a series called St Tommy NYPD. In that series, the aforementioned saint has a home for wayward girls who once made their money by providing sexual favors. Jimbo respected that.
Jimbo, however, doesn't have the funding to build a home like that. But he does have a love of God. And, while he doesn't always make sense to people (and brother, if you've never described a fictitious Catholic saint as "The kind of Christian I've always wanted to be" in a Protestant church you can't truly appreciate the looks I... err... Jimbo got when "he" did it.) he does see himself as having some type of an obligation to do God's work. That makes sense to lots of people. Jimbo sees them doing it all the time.
And so, inspired in part by one Thomas Nolan, Jimbo has been making inquiries in beginning a prison ministry through his own church. He'd like to think that St. Tommy would approve. Tommy himself seemed to understand that it was important to minister to ALL of God's children and not just those who followed society's rules and Tommy was a cop.
Now, Jimbo told God he'd do it. He never told God he KNEW HOW to do it and there's probably going to be a process before he can get started. But, once he gets there, he'll serve with the love of his Lord, and the inspiration provided by one Catholic saint who never actually existed.
Wow...
Funny enough, that was something my father did -- he found people in need, we had a guest room. In his case, the people he found in his daily work life were all college students. When it came to Tommy, it just made sense he would do the same for people he found on the Job.
"But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us."