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A Christian Reflection on The Diviners

  Part 1: When Our Story Feels Like a Jigsaw Puzzle Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners opens with Morag Gunn from a small town in Canada takes readers into her complex life. Through a non-linear narrative threaded with memory, nostalgia, and cultural inheritance, Laurence offers us a story not of becoming but of unearthing. As Jesus followers, our job is to process each other’s stories with compassion, grace and truth, constantly asking, "Where does God’s word intersect the human experience?" When we do, we find that, even in literature that does not expressly derive from Scripture, echoes of eternal truths and gospel longings abound. More generally, The Diviners is an exploration of “who am I?” Morag’s trajectory, from orphaned child in rural Manitoba to novelist and new mother struggling toward self-understanding, is a well-trodden one. She is not in search of mere success but of profound meaning. In that quest we face a fundamental reality, and that is this: that ident...
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Van Gogh's The Starry Night

  Van Gogh's   The Starry Night   transcends mere paint on canvas; it's a visceral expression of profound yearning, a visual cry of beauty tinged with disorientation and a deep sense of longing. Created in 1889 during his stay in an asylum, the painting isn't simply a representation of what he saw, but a window into his inner turmoil, the palpable ache of a soul striving for something beyond the confines of suffering and despair. The sky in   The Starry Night   is alive, pulsating with movement. Stars blaze with an almost feverish intensity, and the heavens swirl with raw energy. In stark contrast, the village below rests in quiet slumber, its church steeple reaching skyward like a silent prayer. This dramatic juxtaposition, the chaotic cosmos versus the tranquil earth, isn't just artistic tension; it resonates on a deeper, spiritual level. It mirrors the internal conflict, the silent longing for peace that resides within us all. Van Gogh himself eloquently capt...
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That Empty Feeling

  We're bombarded, aren't we? A constant stream of "better" – better status, better success, a better image, all validated by the fleeting applause of likes and shares. Every notification promises something shinier, something more. But if you're anything like me, amidst all the digital sparkle, there's often a nagging sense of…emptiness. That's why William Makepeace Thackeray's "Vanity Fair," written centuries ago, still resonates so deeply. It cuts through the noise and speaks directly to that quiet ache in our hearts. More than just a witty satire of 19th-century British high society, "Vanity Fair" is a stark warning. Read it with a discerning eye, and it becomes a mirror, reflecting how easily we fall into the very traps we claim to despise. It exposes the seductive power of the "fair" – the marketplace of worldly desires – that pulls us away from what truly matters. Thackeray cleverly borrowed his title from John Bunya...
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Faulkner's Fury

  Faulkner's  The Sound and the Fury … it's a tough one, right? It's not exactly a feel-good story, and you certainly wouldn't call it a straightforward, "Christian" novel. The writing is all over the place, the timeline jumps around, and the characters are just… broken. They're weighed down by so much sorrow, selfishness, and a whole lot of unspoken pain.      But here's the thing: even with all that darkness, there's something else going on beneath the surface. A thread, almost hidden, that resonates with biblical truths. For those of us who follow Jesus, this book isn't just a literary masterpiece (which it is, of course). It's like holding up a mirror to our own souls, forcing us to confront some uncomfortable realities. And it's a powerful canvas for seeing the gospel in a fresh, maybe even unsettling, way.      Let's be honest, it's not a light read. But then again, neither is the cross. And sometimes, it's through t...
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