A way through the wood

One night while I was in my study I was leaning down to pick a book off the shelf when I had sudden flash of insight – God wants me to write the history of Church from the point of view of a spiritual battle, but it MUST be a comedy. Oh great! A “Church history sitcom!”

Where do I even start! That’s two of the hardest genres to combine, serious history where people have very strong opinions and light-hearted humour, how is that even possible?

Thus began many years of study, of comedy, of story, of church history and growing clouds of self-doubt and creative paralysis. How is this project even possible?

But my struggle has been informative.

I am very much like the comic characters I want to write about. I have had some of the requisite struggles in life that have taught me to trust God and be less fearful of my own lack of talent and sense of unworthiness.

Comedies are about characters who struggle to make sense of what seems like a senseless world, and the truth is that most of us are not doing great a job of it. We struggle. We are caught in the crossfire of an ongoing spiritual battle that most of us are not aware of and despite what our culture tells us, we usually lack the skills and tools with which to win these battles. But comedy is a genre that shines a spotlight on those weaknesses and says that you’re going to be okay, never give up hope. You don’t have to be the superhero.

Comedy shows us God’s perspective of us – we are full of flaws, foibles, and failings yet God doesn’t hate us for them. Quite the opposite, he loves us so dearly that he gave up everything to come and show us what true humanity looks like. Jesus modelled for us how to live with our weaknesses.

Weakness is not something to be ashamed of! It’s a strength when we consciously live in a state of dependence on God. The weakness of Jesus was most apparent when he died on the cross, yet that was the decisive moment that won the ancient spiritual battle and freed humans from a strange and senseless existence.

God has promised us that he will keep us firm and established until the end so that we are blameless on that final day. I have loved and appreciated those moments when laughter has brought me out of moments of despondency. I see the truth of who I am in my weakness, and that it’s okay. Laughter is the physical experience that opens me up to the possibility of something better – of what God sees when He looks at me.

That’s the hope I have for my stories, to open the “laughter bridge” that takes the reader to Jesus.

Submitted by: Marcus Amann

Marcus Amann has held different positions in the IT, non-profit and sports venue management sectors. He writes fiction under different pen names and genres.