Rooted in Jesus, listening to the world. By Andrew J Chamberlain

This is my final contribution to ‘More than Writers’ and I’m going to finish with probably the most important truth I’ve learned in life and writing during my time contributing to the blog.

Here it is: as a writer and a Christian I cannot escape from the tension of being both rooted in my faith and being open to the world. Moreover, I don’t think I should even try to escape that tension, because Jesus himself calls us to live in that place.

I believe in the teaching of Jesus, and I think that through his death and resurrection he is the way to salvation where other belief systems are not. I don’t think all lifestyles are okay, but one inspired by the Spirit will be. That is part of my faith and my belief.

But that puts me at odds with a lot of people in the world. How should I react to that? Well, what did Jesus do? Did he go out into the streets and villages and amongst the people, or did he hide away with his disciples?

I think you can work out the answer.

To follow Jesus is to engage with others, it means to recognise and respect ‘the other’ without compromising our own beliefs. For us writers, that particularly means listening to the stories that others have to tell.

I have tried to do this with my creative writing podcast, The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt.  In the course of hosting the podcast have interviewed men and women of different races, ages, and sexual orientations. I have tried to understand their story, and the wisdom they bring. I have tried not to let my opinions on their lifestyles, their politics, their theology or any other potentially divisive aspect get in the way of that process.

 

When I was thinking of other ways to illustrate this point I was surprised when the example that immediately sprang to mind was Emma Gonzalez. You might not recognise the name, but her image, and her role in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida last February has made her a recognisable figure on social media, and a polarizing symbol for those who support and oppose gun control.

From my perspective, Ms Gonzalez is by any definition ‘the other’. She is younger than my youngest child, she is female, American, she is not white, she is bisexual, and she has survived a gun attack at her school. The gap between her experience and mine is vast. (I should stress here that in using her as an example I am not judging any part of her lifestyle).

If I met Ms Gonzalez, I would respectfully ask questions, and I would listen. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything she says or believes or lives by. (What a dull life it would be if we only engaged with others on that basis!) But I will try to engage with the real story she has to tell.

Writers, Jesus puts a call on our lives: to go out into the world and to listen and to think and to write. This is what we have to do, firstly because there are so many wonderful, authentic stories out there to discover, and secondly, because I think that’s what Jesus himself would do. We need no more incentive than that.

Andrew Chamberlain is a writer and creative writing tutor. He is a commercial publisher of fiction and memoir and the presenter of the creative writer’s podcast: The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt, he is also the author of The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt Handbook which contains the best advice and insight from 100 episodes of the podcast.