Finding the light in the horror

                                                                   

This post was prompted by two things. One by my love of the work of Stephen King, and two, by the blog post written by Jane Clamp back in January. That seems so long ago now. 

About a year and a half ago, I started reading The Stand. At 1, 200 pages long, it's an epic read. It's a tale of good vs Evil. Mother Abigail against Randell Flagg. God vs the Devil.

Yes, it's about a plague. A plague very similar to the flu. I wouldn't blame you if you stopped reading now, but I hope you won't.

I was hesitant whether to write on this, yet at the same time, it's certainly topical. The main reason I wanted to post though was to show that their is a lot of light amongst the horror in this book.

I'll admit that about halfway though the book, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue. Some scenes were so disturbing that I had to pause reading. In fact maybe it was quite helpful that it was such a big book. This meant that for most of the time it stayed as my bedside book, where I'd only be able to read a maximum of a few pages before falling asleep.

I know at some point last year, somebody wrote a post about how they felt people with disabilities were represented in books. In The Stand, two of the main characters are disabled. Nick Andros, whose deaf - in the book he's described as a deaf-mute and Tom Cullen, a character with severe learning disabilities, and these two, especially Tom, become absolute heroes.

Tom, who is in his forties, is very innocent and acts very much like a child, but he is a crucial character. There's one page that I took a picture of because to me, it reads as a perfect example of 1John 4:18. 'Perfect love casts out fear.' This very short extract also gives you an example of how Tom thinks.

Here's a few quotes that I feel help to show the light that shines amongst the horror.

“God doesn't bribe, child. He just makes a sign and lets people take it as they will.” 

“There’s always a choice. That’s God’s way, always will be. Your will is still free. Do as you will. There’s no set of leg-irons on you. But... this is what God wants of you.” 

“It don't matter if you believe in God Nick, he believes in you.” 

And I want to share this one, which is just one of many examples of the skilled writer that King is. This is how he describes how Mother Abigail looks,  “Her face is seamed with a million wrinkles like the map of a state where the geography hasn’t settled down—rivers and canyons along her brown leather cheeks, ridges below the knob of her chin, the sinuous raised drumlin of bone at the base of her forehead, the caves of her eyes."

And then there is this classic quote that many of you might have come across where Stephen King defines writing....

“When asked, “How do you write?” I invariably answer, “One word at a time,” and the answer is invariably dismissed. But that is all it is. It sounds too simple to be true, but consider the Great Wall of China, if you will: one stone at a time, man. That’s all. One stone at a time.

I say again, this is not an easy read. At times it's grotesque, obscene and horrific yet in other ways, it's beautiful, moving and deeply spiritual. 

Hoping you stay safe and well, and if you can, write, and if you can't then at least read, anything...

Martin is a writer, baker, photographer and storyteller. He's been published in the ACW Christmas anthology and Lent devotional. He's currently honing his craft at flash fiction and you can find him on Twitter here.