True Confession: A Novel Escape

I’m reading my second novel of the week.

I love reading novels—especially those that are well written and historical.

I usually read them on two occasions:  on long flights—uninterrupted immersion is delightful–and when troubles weigh me down, when life discourages or confuses or just hurts.

I suppose, if I were sufficiently trusting God, I shouldn’t need such a diversion.  So I guess I am still learning and growing.

I began the first one—Chop Shop by Tim Downs–on a flight from California to Florida on Sunday night—and stayed up late Monday night to finish it.  I love Tim’s kind of crazy, very imaginative, slightly dangerous stories.

The second one—A Presumption of Death: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery by Dorothy Sayers–I have just begun.  Set in early WorldWar II England, it is an intellectual thriller.

Novels let me escape-briefly–the things that discourage, the thoughts that push me down.  They let me trade the world I’m not too happy with for a world somewhere else. I love going deep into the story.

For me it’s like taking a deep breath.  It’s a respite—a little vacation.  It gives my mind and emotions a break.

Then I can return to real life, usually with a lighter heart and more settled mind.

And then I seem ready to better listen to what God wants to say to me in the turmoil.

What about you?  What helps you settle mind and emotions?

C2012 Judy Douglass

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