Of Easter, The Vedas, and Passion…

The roots of Easter morning lie in the sad and turbulent time extending from when Christ, with his crown of thorns, was led to the cross, fastened upon it, nails holding him in place, and then allowed to die.

This horrific time includes the moment in which the Son of Man, utters, “It is done,” onto Mary arriving, as promised, at the tomb, and to surprisingly discover the huge stone slab rolled away.

On his encounter with Thomas who is filled with doubt, the risen Christ says, “Touch my sides.” He then urges the disciple who is very much afraid, to enter his finger into the holds left by the nails that held the deity, who was once human, upon the cross.

Every good story contains all the elements reflected in the narrative events of the death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

That the story has lived for more than 2000 years speaks to the power of transformation held within its words forming paragraphs, plots and subplots that transmute energy from writers of Ancient Israel to readers of the various centuries in between.

Not unlike the mantras of the Vedas written in Sanskrit, and recited by the Hindu priests in past millennia, the words and plot of the Biblical Passion carry power, most especially for writers who seek to endow our writing with the elements of transformation affecting not only our central characters, but our readers and most importantly, us as the scribes of the events constructing the dramas of our characters and that brings them to life upon the page.

Not unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke who presented the life and times of Jesus, we, when writing the dialogue and prose of the narrative of our protagonist’s life and story, offer a rendition of what has affected us to chronicle the imaginings within our head.

These stories and mantras speak of passion. That they live within the minds and hearts of followers and devotees lays the foundation for a death and transformation each time readers take in their words.

Not unlike the scribes who penned them, we writers undergo a similar experience each time we start and finish a story, that of life, death and rebirth.

We undergo this transformation through the processes of revising and editing our work, thus producing further renditions or drafts that transmute the energies we have poured from our hearts.

Crafting stories and novels offers an opportunity to continually revisit the ultimate of ordeals, that of peeling away the masks behind which our true nature and identity exists.

Much like our protagonists when facing their greatest crisis, the pinnacle of actions in a story, we confront the greatest of our enemies, fear of death, and when having completed our story, evidence of our survival, doubt.

What most frightens you when writing?

What stops you from finishing stories of novels?

What is the hardest thing about revising?