Hello Amethyst Angel 🌼 . Thank you for entering this month's contest.

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Grill a Christian  (13+) Will God fly with us to the stars? #2327636 by LightinMind

As the official Judge of this contest, I have the following comments to offer for "Woke" 

Did you answer the question?

A story was a good way to describe the lack of inner peace, the roots of that disturbance in a lack of purpose, old wounds, and the need for a meaningful role. The story described how inner peace was realized through purposeful living, and healing in service to others

Use of quotes, proof-texting or AI - could I hear your voice?

This was your voice.

How consistent was your argument?

This was a story, not an argument but as such it was able to explore a great many themes. It did cover the question and suggest a reasonable path to inner peace.

The retired detective found a role as a teacher sharing his skills in stories. In living a more purposeful life in service to others he achieved a degree of peace and wellbeing.

The mourning parents found children to care for thereby healing the wounds that scarred their souls.

In doing the right thing Reema and Dan find a peace that not even the crows can disturb. They were able to debunk the lack of peace felt by the children and the neighbor toward them.

Peace has theological roots and is also a hope for the future when God will make all things right.

Peace was achieved in community with others.

My thoughts on the substance of what you said

The communal sense of peace achieved here was helpful. You write well, as always but I did not think this story fully addressed the roots of restlessness and the reasons why a person can be at peace. I liked how peace here is described as a restoration of what sin has broken but the account did not reach deep enough into the theological roots of that peace.

I could see a bunch of atheists making broadly similar decisions and achieving similar results. This was not the peace of early Christians singing praise to God in the arenas before their death, monks preserving the knowledge and truth of the gospel through the dark ages, islands of light in a sea of darkness. Abolitionists looking for an end to the abuse of man by man in the institution of slavery or missionaries risking their lives to share with hostile tribes.

The Hebrew word Shalom does not just describe an absence of conflict. It is a holistic reality grounded in God's presence, purpose and redemptive plan. The Greek word Eirēnē expands this definition to include the peace brought by reconciliation through Christ. So not just a matter of circumstances but something established by God'grace.

In some parts of Ukraine, a man looks out of his window to see no explosions today. But he turns on his TV to see pictures of the war elsewhere. Peace is not just his experience of an absence of conflict today but so also it describes the objective state of the end of warfare. That sense of objective peace and the contractual grounds of it was missing from this account.

Similarly in our relations with God, we can sometimes feel a state of peace and wellbeing due to circumstantial factors but what matters is that Christ has redeemed us with his once for all sacrifice. Thus peace is not merely that we feel ok and things seem to be working out it is an objective state of forgiveness and grace achieved by Christ reconciling us to God. The war between God and our souls is over because we are objectively forgiven by Christ's sacrifice. We can still have bad days but in our heart of hearts, we have the peace of someone objectively forgiven all his sins. This is a state of being that we carry through sufferings and not just the fruit of victories won over enemies and pains, nor an eschatological hope for a distant future. The most powerful Christian witnesses that I recall to mind are of Christians amid pain praising God. Corrie Ten Boom from the deepest pit of incarceration by the Nazis. Mother Theresa amidst the poor and sick of Calcutta. This peace is a supernatural one that guards hearts and minds even when everything is breaking down all around one.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:7

I found your story to be theologically quite shallow. God receives incidental references at the end of the account almost as an attempt to reconcile some good purposeful decisions that improved feelings of well-being and which carried healing significance. Being a detective for Dan seemed more like a restored habit than a revived calling in which justice, righteousness, and truth were the goals. The wounds of the lost child were not given a vertical context at the start of the account, nor were questions asked in this account as to why God had taken the child away. It is only at the end that the fuller picture of God's presence and the possibility of a future with him includes young Monica. Even the evil of the drunk and abusive father is just an incidental reference to misbehavior rather than grounded in a lack of faith, self-control, and blurred visions of goodness.

This was a great story but I am not sure it described true peace.

Mechanical issues

You write so well that I tend not to notice your mistakes if there are any.


Thanks again for entering.
LightinMind

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My Philosophy of Rating and Reviewing  (E) How do I assess people's work when reviewing? #2259390 by LightinMind

My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .