Sometimes I wonder if fiction mirrors life or if life mirrors fiction. Currently, I’m in the process of plotting book number five, tentatively titled, The Marquis’ Pursuit, which is the story of Max, the son of the Duke from The Duke’s Refuge. Novels typically have a similar structure. The story opens with a character going about their normal life. Then, an incident happens to change their course, which sets them on a journey either physically, spiritually, mentally, or all three.

James Scott Bell noticed a common factor in most books and movies. Around the midpoint, the hero or heroine is confronted with a disturbing decision to change or die. He calls this the mirror moment. In most cases, the death doesn’t mean physical death, but a psychological death to an old self, a dream, goal, or status. The main character realizes he or she has to fight because there is no running from themselves. Essentially the characters have no choice but to Cowboy Up.

We see this in Star Wars, A New Hope, when Han Solo, whose plan was to leave to pay his debt to the bounty hunter Jabba the Hut, decides he’ll stay and fight with the rebels. In The Proposal, the mirror moment is when Sandra Bullock’s character realizes she is starting to adore Andrew, her assistant and fake fiancee, and his quirky Alaskan family. She second-guesses the farce because it will hurt the family, yet not getting married would end in her deportation.

We are all on this hero’s journey. Before Covid-19, we went about our normal lives, but then the pandemic hit, interrupting our normal and forcing us into a new journey—physically, spiritually, and mentally. Now we’ve reached our mirror moment where we have to decide if we are going to grow stronger, become wiser, strengthen our beliefs, or are we going to suffer a psychological death. It’s okay to take a moment to mourn for the future that would-have-been, the missed graduations, large weddings, school proms, the canceled high school football season. (My boys are upset over that last one.) However, we can’t stay in the mourning phase. We need to look in the mirror and be strengthened, knowing that God fights with us and for us. We aren’t alone and we aren’t the underdog when we are on the side of the One who created the universe.

To quote Kyle Idleman from Southeast Christian Church“We aren’t going to act like we don’t have hope when we have The Hope of the World. We aren’t going to act like we don’t know the way when we know The Way. We aren’t going to act like we don’t have light in the darkness when we know The Light. Jesus is whom we put our confidence in.”

Fire extracts the impurities out of gold. Just as how trials refine our faith pulling out our selfishness, doubts, and fears where they’re exposed to the light. The pressure, heat, and stirring things up can be agonizing, but in the end, when we look in the mirror, we’ll see the reflection of Jesus.

1 Peter 6-7“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

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