I’ve been asked why I wanted to write Water & Word, the novel I’ve just completed. Although I’ve attended church most of my life, off and on, I wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of American churches for at least forty years. At some time in the early 2000’s I found a companion in the White Horse Inn radio program. The theological substance of the panel discussion was refreshing and I was hooked by the tagline, “Know what you believe and why you believe it.”
I wasn’t certain what I believed and I had no clue as to why I’d believe it. The panel of theologians/professors/clergy challenged my thinking but the contributions of Rod Rosenbladt resonated strongly and personally with me. I began to sort out what I believed and I was beginning to understand why I believed it. It wasn’t until I read Martin Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation that I thought of myself as a Christian instead of a seeker.
Until then, I was just going to church, like a “Christian” should. I can’t help but think there are others out there who have a church home, love the people, look forward to services, and couldn’t really tell you, convincingly, why anyone needs Jesus. As much as I wanted to believe the emotional appeals of being “saved” I couldn’t understand the simple necessity and sufficiency behind the big picture. Once I was confronted by the dichotomy of a Theology of Glory versus a Theology of the Cross I knew where I stood.
I couldn’t get past the simple conclusion that if all religions are equally true then religion is simply therapy and, yes, one can find the best fit for their spiritual yearnings. But if “Truth” is the principle criterion then there can be only one “Truth” paradigm and all the rest are “not-Truth.”
Part of the problem is that many key concepts, things like sin, alienation from God, atonement, contrition, redemption, and all the rest don’t so much communicate some basics of the faith to a non-believer as they present reasons not to believe. Not because of what they mean so much as these words all mean multiple, different things to different church traditions and different believers. It’s our postmodern reality.
If we can no longer talk meaningfully about “Truth” and each person clings to, and passionately defends, his/her own personal “truth” then the proper distinction of Law and Gospel is irrelevant. Church affiliation isn’t based on “truth,” but a “gut feeling.” People seem comfortable, without investigation, preferring their own church tradition over others, even putting Christianity on a level field with all world religions, but the idea that Christianity isn’t so much “religion” as it is historical fact is guaranteed to be met with ridicule and outrage.
How can anyone speak the Truth of the Cross to someone who is comfortable with living their own truth? I wanted to explore that, unapologetically, with characters in a story. I wanted to explore the path from inquiry and doubt to understanding, and then on to belief. I also wanted to explore the dynamic of Christians surrounded by the world and not withdrawing from the world.
I like the intrigue of mysteries, the reasoning employed to unravel confusion around a crime, uncovering motive, and the thrill of revealing whodunnit, but also nailing down howdunnit and whydunnit. I’ve never considered myself a mystery or detective fiction connoisseur but I’ve spent many enjoyable evenings in the company of detectives of every school and method, from Dupin to Holmes to Lord Peter Wimsey, Marlow, Spade, Archer, Father Brown, and Maigret, with a new favorite in Anty Boisjoly. Since most of my time spent in theology feels like detective work and my years in continuous improvement provide many similarities with the work of intuitive/rational investigation, I became convinced the mystery genre was the best fit for this exploration.
I wasn’t comfortable having my main character be a mastermind sleuth, either. First, I’m not a mastermind. I’ve had few original thoughts in my life. I am by nature a connector, an amalgamater and, yes, a dilettante who picks up any bright, shiny intellectual object and carries it along the path, sometimes for years, until I find some setting, some analog, some unrelated but curiously similar framework that suddenly makes sense. It can take me decades to arrive at something resembling understanding but I’m okay with that.
“I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”
Richard Feynman
Since most of my professional experience has been framed as group efforts (as an actor/writer early on and later as a continuous improvement manager), I felt most comfortable having a small circle of amateur sleuths work with my main character.
Having always been a bit of a “fish out of water” character myself, I wanted the setting to be one where the main character was still a bit uncertain about the people, history, lore, and social fabric of his surroundings. And I wanted the main character to be a bit of a late-bloomer Lutheran, as I am, so that he was not complacent or self-satisfied with his faith.
Here’s a 300 word summary of Water & Word:
Conrad “Diek” Diekert and his wife Esther are retired, leaving professional life in Boston for lakeside living in Wittenberg County, Indiana. Beneath the small-town charm lies a study in opposites. The hard-working farm families who’ve been in Wittenberg for generations consider the “rich lake people” to be foreigners and the lake community consider the locals to be backward hayseeds. The Diekerts don’t see any of that at their 160-year-old Lutheran church where Diek is a deacon. There’s much they don’t notice just below the surface.
Right now there’s a lot going wrong. The contractor building a guest suite on their house is weeks behind. Their adult kids are canceling plans for the big family reunion over the 4th of July weekend — a son-in-law has Covid, a set of grandsons have sports championships, and their youngest daughter is too busy breaking up with her boyfriend. On top of that, Diek’s Pastor has asked him to visit the granddaughter of a prominent member of their church. She’s in rehab after an overdose, and Diek urges her to claim the promises of her baptism as a way to put the past behind, but she’s just not “religious.”
Deke isn’t satisfied that incompetence is the sole reason their home addition is late. What he doesn’t know is that the construction crew includes members of a murderous but incompetent local drug ring with ambitions to go big. Using the construction gig as a cover, they plan for a major drug score and their preparations are leaving a bloody trail.
Diek isn’t Sherlock Holmes. He’s a fan of process, causal chains, structured thinking, and group problem solving. He accepts the help of a local circle of amateur historians who declare “We love murder!” Together they operate more like a “test kitchen” than a forensics team. In a surprising twist, the real boss of the drug ring was right in front of Diek all along. Together, the amateur crime-busters put the last piece in the puzzle and identity the drug ring’s financier to the Sheriff.
Water & Word, Franklin Dent
Having spent months writing a 74,000 word novel it is very challenging for this novice writer to produce a 300 word summary. I will have more to say about Water & Word and the project to publish it.
What Then? 