A Faultless Felon

Two weeks ago when Anna came to visit us she brought her copy of G.K. Chesterton's Four Faultless Felons, a short book that I proceeded to borrow and read over about a week-long period. It was my first Chesterton book, and while I am not sure I agree with everything in the four short stories, the major point that he was driving home made me think. Each of the characters had done something or appeared to do something that in the eyes of those around them was illegal, earning themselves the titles "felons." Yet their actions were in fact not felony at all; each man was faultless when his motives and real actions were taken into account.

One of the points of Four Faultless Felons is that genuinely good actions are so confounding to the world that if they were practiced more often, they would be mistaken for felony. How can evil understand Good? How can darkness understand Light? Can the things of the flesh understand the things of the Spirit? Another point is that we ought not do good in order to be seen as Good People by those around us, and that when the world starts calling us Good, we should stop and examine ourselves very closely. The people did not call Jesus "good," and when one man did, Jesus turned it back in his face with the reply, "Why do you call me good? There is none good but God alone." It isn't about appearing to be good; it is about being holy.

Yesterday I was working on my author website, getting it set up to launch, which involves doing summaries for my novels and all that good stuff. I had done The Soldier's Cross and Wordcrafter and was working on The White Sail's Shaking, mulling over some of the themes that have come to play in it - friendship, courage, mercy, and true honor. Only, I hadn't really thought about the last one very much. Tip is driven by a need to prove himself, to show his family that he is something more than mediocre and to show his fellow officers that, unlike his relations, he is not a Loyalist. I already knew that that would be a point of the story; I knew subconsciously that Tip was facing a decision - whether to seek honor or to do right - but until yesterday I hadn't come to the foundation of the choice.

It isn't about whether to choose honor or righteousness; the question boils down to what honor is. Honor is doing right, or at least it ought to be, and as Chesterton points out, it often comes out looking very dishonorable to everyone else. Tip is hunting glory, not honor, and though the two words are used synonymously, in this fallen world they are very often opposites. What is our conception of glory but greatness? And what, after all, do we really know of greatness? When we say a man has won glory, we mean he has won the people over into considering him great, which is not at all the same as the man really being great. Again, Chesterton's point is a good one: if true greatness were seen among fallen man, it would be considered base. When a great Man did come, what did the world do but ridicule Him and mock Him and put Him to death?

And so it is that when real honor is seen, it is usually misunderstood. To seek real honor is to seek something very low in the eyes of the world, and it is a great deal harder than winning glory. Any scum of a man can set himself up as something great, but it takes a different kind of man to be a faultless felon.

Scribblin' Notebooks

Although technology has all but displaced writing whole novels by hand, most writers still carry notebooks around with them for scribbling ideas in during the day. Some people are more comfortable writing this way; some people prefer typing. I like a mix of both. Some sections seem to want to be written by hand - especially scenes that take place beyond the point at which I am in the "actual" writing - while others like to be typed and won't flow on paper. I always carry a notebook with me in what my family calls "Abigail's little red bag." "Did you get your little red bag?" "Where's your little red bag?" "Don't you have your little red bag?" During Wednesday night Bible Study, Thursday night theology class, and Sunday evening worship, I'll pull my notebook out and write, which actually helps me pay attention rather than distracting me. I currently have three writing notebooks - two completed, one in progress.


The middle one was my first, and not decorated by me; those are Elrond's twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, up at the top, by the bye. It has some of my planned novel Sunshine and Gossamer but is mostly full of Wordcrafter - lots of messy scribblings on Wordcrafter.

The one on the far left was my second, this time decorated by me. The sketches of the two women are of Lizzy and Jane Bennet, drawn by professional artist Niroot. The drawing in the bottom right of the anthropomorphic cat sitting at a burning typewriter is from the webcomic Lackadaisy. The middle image is a drawing of Legolas with "If You Can Read This, The Dwarf Fell Off" written on the back of his tunic. Over on the right and at the top are some signature graphics (original art not mine); the one on the left says "blue jeans in Tera" (Wordcrafter), the silhouetted man says "Justin King" (Wordcrafter), and the woman up top says "Marta Rais" (White Sail's).

And the one on the right is my current notebook. Like my second, it has an Arabian horse on the left (for Marah from Wordcrafter). It also has a couple signatures - one for Justin (again), one for Ethan, and one on the right that says "I answered you in the secret place of thunder." It also has an adorable picture by a gal who...seems to have deactivated her deviantART account. Then I've got a cover for Sunshine and Gossamer and another for Tempus Regina, my other planned novel.


I write the scene on the right-hand page only; it's easier that way. At the top I mark the story and sometimes the chapter, if I'm actually advanced enough to have a chapter list.


I also write notes on the top of the page, usually having something to do with the teaching. (The top note, for those of you who are peering curiously at it, is the quote from Wives and Daughters, "I'm not saying she was very foolish. I'm saying one of us was very foolish, and it wasn't me.") On the left-hand page I write the location of the scene, more for the fun of using elaborate fonts than for anything else, although with White Sail's it is helpful. For instance, the scene I was writing in the right picture took place in Boston; others take place on the schooner Enterprize, and I'll note that and the location of the ship at the time (if in port). I also use this space for writing more notes, or for scrawling furiously when I can't think of anything to write.


And sometimes I write on the bulletins our church has for Sunday mornings. This is for Tempus Regina, but I'm not going to translate it for you.

*The cat featured in some of the above photos is Buster. He was more interested in lounging than in posing, however, so he looks a bit...well...loungy.