Yay! I'm back to catching up on my stories! And JOY! This was my first one in a long time.
So I loved this one. I want to put Dave's rant on a plaque--he's nailed down what I've been struggling with in my Christian walk for the past several years. I'm putting his words alongside my other favorite Christian SF writer, Maurice Broaddus,
who did a similar rant on his blog.
The story: beauteous. The reading: wonderful. The content: not blaphemous at all. In fact, I found it very close to Biblical thinking. Allow me to indulge in some Christian world-view imagining (which is not as conservative as others). This story is a retelling of john the baptist birth set in modern times. The kid born isn't the Messiah--he's justa wiseman. John the Baptist was also considered a messenger, and he was born to an older woman considered past her fertile years, Elizabeth.
I did like how the angels were baffled by the MC's refusal, and i especially like the end where the angel appears in human form to talk face to face. I would go so far as to say that this would've been God's plan all along, to get the angels to communicate in a better fashion (though i don't presume to know the mind of God, biblical or fictional) i can see the following taking place:
Angel: this girl refuses to host your child!
God: hmm...well, tell her she must
Angel: but how can she say no to you? You're God! Can't you strike her down? Or turn her into a donkey?
God: No, I'm not going to. This child must be born. Tell her that.
Angel: but she keeps saying...hold on...stand by. There's another woman who says she'll do it. An old one.
God: Perfect. Knock her up.
Angel: (blinking) but...then...why didn't we just go to her instead of the foul-mouthed one?
God: You'll see...
(9 months later)
Angel: okay, I give up. This woman whined and wailed about not being able to care for this kid, and now look at her! She may as well be the mother for all she dotes on him.
God: Yes. It's all working out very nicely.
When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all. Angel: I don't get it.
God: Perhaps you should spend more time with her. But not the flashy way you like to appear. Why not tone it down a bit?
Angel: But that's boring. I like being flashy.
God: I know. But if you tone it down a bit, you might find that she would be easier to get to know. And then the two of you can establish a relationship. You can finally learn the nature of humans and she would learn that not all angels are blathering messenger pigeons. And perhaps, even, one night, say after a bottle of wine, she may think you're even kind of cute...in a angelic sort of way, and then after several bottles, the way to another child would be paved...
Angel: Wait...what?
God: Nothing. Have fun.
My only negative comment was that I was a little turned off by the language--not because she was doing it before the Lord, but I was more bothered by the fact that she was a black woman and thus the whole M******F**** swearing thing becomes a type of stereotype. Then again, her outburst at the beginning had me cracking up the most, so perhaps I'm just in a paradoxical mood. Dammit.
And now to dive into more stories! Wheeeee!!!