by Natasha Hayden
February 28, 2014
This week in Children of the Wells, you were treated to a glimpse of the more zealous side of one of this world’s religions: the worship of the god Elthor. He is the god of Thyrion’s monotheistic state religion. The Emperor and his family believe their godlike power comes from Elthor. They believe their divine right to rule comes from him. In fact, they take their belief a step further: they believe they are gods themselves. Others, like the High Priest Pelag (from The Fall of the House of Kyzer) are fervent, more traditional believers, and still others believe only as far as Elthor suits their needs and whims.
Jalseion, on the other hand, is a city of science, and as is mirrored in our world today, its belief is that science and religion don’t coexist. Yet even Jalseion has at least one very different religion that our main storyline has not touched on yet, a belief that basic shapes (circle, square, etc.) guide how people view morality. (You can find a story about it in a short story collection, The Wheel is Broken, that Nick Hayden wrote as a companion piece to The Select’s Bodyguard.) Obviously, it’s a very Jalseion way to look at things.
As for Falcon Point, I think it’s fair to say that they mostly believe in themselves and what humanity can do. They are very American in that way. They believe in freedom and working together, though one may not agree with their post-Cataclysm methods.
And then, if you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll have noticed the mention of Elethem here and there. Some might say the name is an older variant of Elthor. Those who believe in Elethem don’t throw his name around lightly. They aren’t from any particular city or group. They can be found anywhere, the believers in the ancient ways.
You may wonder what place religion holds in our story or why I feel the need to bring it up at all. Besides the fact that many fantasies play around with the idea of some sort of religious system and that it’s fun to make up different beliefs (because, let’s be honest, everyone believes in something, whether it’s God, science, the Force, or one’s fluffy little pet dog), at Children of the Wells, we do share a set of beliefs. And everything we write is influenced by it.
Now, we won’t preach it (at least not in the story, though, ahem, the occasional blog might have a little more to say on the subject), and you’ll see a lot of stuff that just doesn’t seem very, well, religious. Honestly, that’s how we want it. What rings truer: people telling you what they think is the best set of beliefs or people really living according to those beliefs so that even though you may not agree with them, you know they are authentic?
Life is messy. I once read a book called Messy Spirituality, by Michael Yaconelli, and I highly recommend it. I mention the book so you know that I didn’t coin the description, but I like to use it. Believing in something can be messy because even though a person believes, he or she is bound to have selfish days, days that don’t match up with those beliefs. The beautiful thing about believing in Jesus Christ is that he forgives all that messiness when we let him. That’s my belief.
So, Children of the Wells is a great big mess…end-of-the-world big. It’s the best venue to show what we believe, that mistakes can be forgiven, that choices can be made, either for good or evil. And you’d better know right off the bat, beliefs will matter in the end. But which ones? We hope you’ll care enough to dig that deep. But if not, we still hope you’ll find something in our story that strikes a chord.
Don't miss a single word of stories as they are published! You'll also receive first notice of special sales and behind-the-scenes information.
