Critical Eye: Only One Story

I have come to believe that there is only one story to be found in the best of fiction and in the best of spirituality.  That is the story of the Christ:  Birth, Death and Resurrection.

For example, in the fiction of Louise Penny, in her series about Inspector Gamauche of the Surete in Quebec, popularly referred to as "the stories of Three Pines," the Inspector is the major hero, who is not only flawed, but enlightened.  As in most fiction, all the characters can be seen as aspects of the author, which makes me wish I personally knew Ms. Penny.

One of the most admirable aspects of the Inspector is his willingness to walk through the fire to reach the truth, in himself and in others.  The village of Three Pines seems to represent heaven, in a very Celtic Way:  All ground is holy ground, and any ground can be heaven or hell, depending on the awareness of the truth of those who can perceive it.  It seems to exist both in time and outside of time.  

The Inspector's enemies are his own flaws, his own blindness, which is caused by his own trauma, and those who would injure others.  He seems to have spent his life learning to be happy, by giving himself to others and allowing others to give to him.  He is loved, by his wife and his team, and is actively hated by those who envy him and those who refuse to look inwards, into the darkest places of the human heart, where we all hide from ourselves things of which we are most ashamed.

The Inspector and indeed all those around him, are constantly immersed in the process of growth and development.  He is dedicated to becoming the best person he can be, regardless of what it might cost him.  He never shirks even the most onerous of his duties, to himself or to anyone else.  

Over the years, I have come to love the characters and wished to be more like them in my own journey towards resurrection. Ms. Penny has mastered her craft in the best way.  Nothing in her stories throws me outside the tale or leaves me scratching my head at any development or area of exploration...She shows rather than tells.  She has what in theatre would be termed an "ensemble" performance among her characters.  Gamauche is the hero, but he is composed of everything that happens to him, everyone he meets, and every choice he makes.

I have been led to confront my own darknesses as a result of reading the series.  I have been led to call to mind things buried in my past which I barely recognized were things holding me back because of my own trauma, my own blindness.   I can only be grateful for Ms. Penny and pray for her to continue to write such powerful, transformative fiction.  When I grow up, I want to write as well as she.