Flower

My uncle wrote a book.

A book, people! A long one!

It's not like he's a big-time writer. He's smart and funny and clever and articulate, but he's not a writer by trade. He's...you know...a guy. With a family and bills and the stuff of life happening.

I've been talking about writing for YEARS. I've been kicking around a novel premise for almost a decade. But life gets busy, and it's hard to take an amorphous mass of writing-related ideas and tidbits and turn it into written words. It takes dedication and discipline that I clearly have not had.


But Uncle Wayne did it! His novel, Flower, a Story of the Nativity, is an adventure story based on the events surrounding the birth of Christ. It's absolutely rich with historical detail, and it offers a new perspective on some of the particulars of the story that have become entrenched not through Scripture but through tradition.

I am thoroughly ashamed to say that this book was in print for over two years before I actually got around to reading it. I have no good excuse. In my partial defense, I did read portions of an early draft, but still.

The tale is impressively complex. He introduces a wide array of characters whose stories interweave as the miracle unfolds. There isn't as much attention paid to Mary and Joseph as you might think...they're in there, as is Jesus Himself, but between glimpses at their circumstances you're watching Roman soldiers, prophets, thieves, Medes, Persians, government officials, angels, and demons. (Incidentally, before I read the "to be continued"-type line at the end, I suspected that there was a sequel coming, and that I'd already met some of the characters central to the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. I think I was right.)

His writing style, if a bit rough around the edges, is energetic and imaginative. I think he was afraid of letting an English-teacher-type read the book, and as I think back over conversations where I've been vocal about my disdain for literary greats like Emerson, Hemingway, and Faulkner, I can understand why I might have given off an intimidating vibe. But to me, the success of this book doesn't rise and fall with the language. Its plot complexity, coupled with its warm tone and its thought-provoking approach to the story, makes it engaging enough that I'm already remembering it fondly.

This past December I thought a lot about the fact that Christmas is, and always was, a dangerous thing. It's fraught with conflict. We picture the Nativity as this serene tableaux with glowing saints and the soundtrack from Charlie Brown loo-loo-looing in the background. But there was rejection inherent in the story, and danger, and intrigue, and murder. It's tumultuous. There's a reason that Christmas brings up tremendous emotional turmoil in people's hearts even today...the sweet enormity of its victory cannot go unchallenged by the enemy.

And that got me thinking. In some ways, the whole thing seems like God thumbing His nose at evil. Like, "I'm coming. I could come as a warrior, surrounded by warriors, and take the place by storm. But I'm coming as a baby. And not a baby with a security detail. In fact, I'll arrive in a stable. With poor people and shepherds. And to make sure you can find Me, I'm going to put a star overhead. You see if you can get Me."

This God I serve--He's not playing.

I wasn't expecting to revisit all these thoughts when I started Flower after Christmas, but the novel hit on all of this stuff. Despite the humor and warmth of the tone, it really centers around the dangerous life into which Jesus was born and the daring plan God undertook to rescue the people He loved. I'm going to look at Christmas differently next year.

One more thing...I'm inspired to just start WRITING. Flower isn't perfect. But it's done. It's in print. The Urban Muse posted 30 writing quotes this month, and one of them was James Thurber: "Don't get it right, just get it written."

Bravo, Uncle Wayne. I promise I won't wait so long to read the sequel. :)