So Eden Sank to Grief releases in just over a month, on February 27. It's a science fiction adventure about a group of people who wake up in a giant greenhouse that's floating in some star-rich corner of the galaxy--with no memory of how they got there. Think Lost meets Lost in Space.
I've been writing and publishing short stories for years, but I'm always a philosopher--and that leaks through into my fiction, especially when the story is based on a parable I originally developed to make a philosophical point. So Eden Sank to Grief grew way beyond that parable, and as soon as I created the characters of Caleb and Sally, what happens to them and what they do about it became far more important than any philosophical point.
Still, So Eden Sank to Grief inevitably became a vehicle for raising philosophical questions that have long been of central importance to me, and Caleb and Sally can't help but reflect on philosophically significant ideas from their own personal standpoints, especially given the mysterious circumstances into which they've been thrust. A lot of those moments of reflection have to do with religion and God. Go figure.
Excerpted below is one such moment, followed by some reflection questions.
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“The last thing I can remember,” she says. “The fight with my…boyfriend. I think something came afterwards. Like something’s missing.”
Caleb nods soberly. “I know what you mean.”
“But what? Is it possible to forget the end of the world?”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing you’d forget, isn’t it?”
“But maybe our visions…maybe they weren’t about what’s happened. Maybe it’s a warning. They’ve brought us here to teach us something and then they’ll send us back. You know, to help keep the vision from coming true.”
“Or maybe the visions are a bunch of crap.”
Sally looks up, up through the trees at the gap that’s just above them, and from where they sit it looks like a normal slice of night sky. “Do you believe in God?” she asks.
Caleb lets out a tired laugh. “I acolyted every month as a kid. Confirmed at fourteen. Vacation Bible School attendee through grade school, volunteer since Junior High.”
“Good God, I’m dating an altar boy.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna be a preacher. Too afraid of public speaking.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Caleb stares past her. Maybe he’s thinking about what the question really means. “If there is a God he’s far away. Hiding himself.”
“Herself.” Sally flashes a wicked grin but can’t sustain it. “Somehow, after it happened, Mom found religion.”
“But not you.”
“It was either not believe at all, or hate God for letting Daddy die.”
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Have you ever, like Sally, found yourself in a situation where atheism seemed the only alternative to hating God? For someone in that situation, which alternative is better? And which is closer to having faith? And why might the very tragedy that put Sally in that situation be the occasion for her mom to "find religion"? What about Caleb's perspective--the idea that God is hidden from us?
And why do you think that reflecting on their visions led Sally to ask Caleb about God?
Would love to hear what you think.
