The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: CLEAR AS MUD (07/18/19)
Propped comfortably in bed amongst my pile of pillows, I settled in to read the last couple of chapters of the book casually lifted from the library's shelf of large print books. I had thought I was in for a pleasant mystery.

That morning my plan was to read one chapter at a time as an incentive and reward for finishing each task on my to-do list. At the end of the day, I looked forward to a satisfying sense of completing several procrastinated small jobs while also having the relaxing pleasure of reading a novel, from beginning to end, in one day.

The day went as planned. A phone call, a chapter. The kitchen mopped, a chapter. An email sent, a chapter. A drawer cleaned, a chapter.

The author, Jacqueline Winspear, made me love her honorable, passionate characters. I don’t know what I expected from a book titled The Care and Management of Lies, but I did not expect it to leave me feeling so unsettled when I finally closed the covers of the book and pulled my own covers around me, ready to sink into satisfied sleep.

The book, set at the start of World War I, was full of yearning love, passion for pacifism, and zealous patriotism. Each character was sustained and strengthened by receiving and writing letters telling lies—lies motivated by sacrificial love. Yet their acts seemed so Christlike.

But there were other lies, muddy lies, from influential, dishonorable, pharisaical characters, motivated by love of money and power. Those lies stirred up angry passion in me—toward these characters—that are incongruent with my own pacifist convictions. I recognized the hypocrisy.

My heart and mind are muddled by a story that is clearly all about the beauty of selfless love—but demonstrated through carefully, lovingly crafted lies. I’m confused!

Jesus, the Way, the Truth, the Life, will you clarify these muddy waters for me? Help me to see Your truth, Your way of life. Tell me, is this moral story an example of love covering a multitude of sins? Or, is it an example of the father of lies' determination to deceive and destroy? I truly do not know.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 551 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Barbara Culler 
07/26/19
That is an interesting conflict! And oh, I do the same thing- do a task or chore and then go read or go online awhile, then back to chore, etc
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
07/28/19
This is a nice devotion. I liked how you showed the reader how to reward herself in between chapters. That's such an important lesson in many ways. I really liked the prayer at the end.
C D Swanson 
07/29/19
Lovely!
I enjoyed this.
Blessings~
Betty Castleberry
07/31/19
Lovely devotion with bold honestly in admitting confusion. Well done.