A call and a mission
A moral compass is defined as an internal set of values, conscience or ethical principles that dictates how to determine right from wrong. It’s what people do with it that sets them apart.
Bowling Green area novelist Gerry Harlan Brown, a retired fire chief and Warren RECC consumer-member, built his latest book, Canelands, around a moral dilemma that struck him while he was watching the evening news, which showed a fearful and emotional response from a little Guatemalan girl who had been separated from her mother at the U.S. southern border. Seeing the treatment as cruel and unnecessary, Brown’s mind began to form an outline of a story similar to hers.
In his story, an unassuming and mild-mannered country preacher, Paul Lockhart, and his wife, Jennie, are reeling after their own family tragedy. Broken hearted and not grieving well, a similar image on the Lockhart television leads to a call to action for Paul. The adventure that ensues is part obedience and part healing for Paul and Jennie, while both discover new strengths in unity and forgiveness.
“The novel is in many ways a compilation of love stories: parents and children, spouses, young love, God’s love for his children,” Brown explains. Indeed, readers will cheer as love triumphs in different ways and unexpected places. Brown’s characters are perfectly imperfect, resulting in real struggles as hearts mend and lives change. For readers who love mystery and intrigue, though, a dark threat to Paul and his mission will keep their blood pumping.
Despite the potentially divisive topics of immigration and border control, Brown does not write from a political viewpoint. Through Paul’s calling, the message is simply to act in obedience through prayer and let God handle the details.
After completing this third novel, Brown describes the writing process on his blog. “When I first started trying to write, I thought this would be a lonely process. Boy was I wrong! No sooner does the idea for a story pop into my head than these characters start showing up demanding to be in it … Of course, I didn’t just invent these people out of thin air. Somewhere along the way, different bits of life stuck in my head from my own experiences and the stories of family members and friends.
“Writers empty their pockets of memories and pick through the piles, gathering a button here, a corner of a picture there, looking for the piece that fits one of their characters as tight as a new pair of shoes.”
