Good people are going into the shadows to discuss a book and a film coming out soon. I commend their courage and am glad that is not my calling. Instead of condemning the eclipse of love in pop culture, let me commend the beauty of love found in an excellent book: The City of Tranquil Light.
America is choosing, as civilization always do, between erotica and romance, between a plunge from the shadows into darkness or a move from the shadows into tranquil light.
Written by Bo Caldwell this is a novel based on history and it is authentic enough to merit a Hollywood level “based on a true story.”
Caldwell writes some beautiful paragraphs and though the book sometimes becomes workmanlike, reading like the product of a good MFA program, it never lags. Two plain people, Will and Katherine, do heroic things and have a romance, but not one that is modeled in either our sappy or our disturbing films. Will and Katherien’s heroism is also the heroism of virtue given by God’s grace.
I am never going to be rich or look like a moviestar, but I can serve God and my neighbor. Service to God and my neighbor creates a hero if I persist in service long enough. This missionary couple went to China and allowed themselves to change at least as much as they changed China. They served, bringing santitation and medical care, but they also learned: language, a new culture, and limitations.
Will and Katherine left behind Chinese people who were Christians and still Chinese, not Americanized Chinese. The blood of these martyrs, and the Communists would make sure of millions of martyrs, has become the seed of a thriving Christian church. These plain lovers served during revolutions, civil wars, banditry, and faminine. They made mistakes and were not always happy, but by the end Will says:
“The term “middle age” fits where we are, for I see in him both the young man I fell in love with and the old one he will be. I see my own dear husband and I am struck by how deeply I love him, by how many times I have nearly lost him—and by how lost I would be without him.”
Love like this is the antithesis of consumerism or materialism. It is beautiful.
The novel is not only about married love, but about the love of people for God, each other, and even their enemies. Violence is real in the book and violence is overcome by love. This victory is not always in outward triumph: good people die. The triumph of love comes when love says even in torture and death: “I triumph.” A torturer is transformed by love into a preacher. A common man is transformed by love into a martyr.
A wise friend pointed out that being against certain evils cannot be my job so here I take a stand for something: romance, friendship, kindness, virtue, and moderation. The City of Tranquil Light is for romance, friendship, kindness, virtue, and moderation and so this weekend buy it, read it, and know joy. Perfect love casts out all fear!
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