Joy In Life
Here's to a wonder and awe 2025.
"Mystery and disappointment are not absolutely indispensable to the growth of love, but they are often its powerful auxiliaries." 1 -Charles Dickens
I’m addicted. I find myself looking forward, in the midst of various activities during the day, to reading the next chapter of Dicken’s novel, Nicholas Nickleby. I want to return again and again, not for some escape from life’s difficulties, but for the joy amid injustice that characterizes the story.
"Love...is very materially assisted by a warm and active imagination, which has a long memory, and will thrive for a considerable time on very slight and sparing food. Thus it is that it often attains its most luxuriant growth in separation and under circumstances of the utmost difficulty..." Nickelby, p. 392
Dickens doesn’t push the reader away from the dark realities of life. Instead, he reminds them of the beauty in life’s challenges. By reading his story, the reader finds the courage to persevere. They may even find the ability to take on the ups and downs with a sparkle in their eye.
As I read Dickens, I am inspired to continue the challenging work of writing my own serial novel. There is real wonder and awe, not only in the love Dickens describes between Nicholas Nickelby and Madeline Bray, but also in seeking and finding God in our everyday lives. I pray I can construct a narrative world that invites people to experience the latter just as Dickens invites us to experience the former.
This Sunday post is also a reminder of what I mentioned in my previous post: in 2025 subscribers should expect the following:
Regular posts 1x/week on Thursdays.
A serial novel, posted 1x/month starting in April.
Special posts with insider insights and concrete applications for paid subscribers.
Additional posts for everyone on occasion.
I hope you are as excited as I am about this next year at Makegoodhappen!
Nickelby p. 392