In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

• John 1:1-13

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• Matthew 12:33-37

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

• James 3:1-8

“… Please realise that words are not just ‘talky-talk’ – they are real and vital; they can change the face of the world. They are a form of action- ‘in the beginning was the Word … by Whom all things were made.’ Even the spate of futile words that pours out from the ephemeral press and the commercial-fiction-mongers has a real and terrible power; it can become a dope as dangerous as drugs or drink; it can rot the mind, sap the reason, send the will to sleep; it can pull down empires and set the neck of the people under the heel of tyranny. ‘For every idle word that ye speak ye shall render account at the day of judgment.’ I do not think that means that we shall have to pay a fine in a few million years’ time for every occasion on which we said ‘dash it all’ or indulged in a bit of harmless frivol; but I do think it was meant as an urgent warning against abusing or underrating the power of words, and that the judgment is eternal- that is, it is here and now.”

• Dorothy L. Sayers, “A Note on Creative Reading,” in Begin Here: A Statement of Faith

Boilerplate

In this mini-series, I will fulfill a promise.  Some time ago, published 14 January 2025, I wrote a brief synopsis of the book, Subversive by Crystal Downing.  The post is called A Subversive Christian.  In that book, I talked about the three books in the photo above.  And I especially wanted to do a mini-series on the book on the right, The Gospel in Dorothey L. Sayers. 

Note that the title uses the preposition “in.”  Dorothy L. Sayers did not write a fifth gospel.  She did not write as if inspired directly by God.  The canon of Scripture is complete.

But in stating what this is not, then what is it?  All Christians have the Holy Spirit within them, guiding them.  When being a Christian is something you have inside you and through you, then the words will reflect that.  This book is how you can see various aspects of the Christian life in the works of Dorothy L. Sayers.

After the Introduction, it starts with Whose Body?  The editor’s attribute of a Christian that she focuses on is “Conscience.” Whose Body? is her first detective fiction novel featuring her main character, Lord Peter Wimsey.  Then in Death Must Advertise, we find Lord Peter has a couple of middle names.  His full name is Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey.

But we will stay in the Introduction at least next week.  There are at least a half dozen quotes just in the introduction that look interesting.  I am not in a hurry to speed through this book.  I was not in a hurry to start it with me being over a year since I promised to make it into a mini-series.

But I would hope people could read my short stories and see the gospel being acted out in the characters in my fictional stories.  Deviled Yeggs grew up in a family of safe crackers, robbing from others.  He set out as a policeman, and then homicide detective, to redeem the family name but learning each person must have Christ redeem them individually.  Deviled’s wife, Trinity Naomi Tesla (TNT) Yeggs, was nicknamed “Nitroglycerin” (Glyce for short) by her parents because she was explosive when shaken.  But she found calm and peace in her husband’s arms, and eventually she found the same comfort and peace in the arms of Jesus as she faced “shaky” experiences.

Even when not writing about Jesus directly, the Good News (Gospel) appears in many ways in what a Christian writes.  Let’s enjoy this journey with possibly my favorite author (outside the Bible), Dorothy L. Sayers.

Discussion

I have mentioned one of my favorite Peanuts comic strips.  Lucy shouts off screen (off panel?) “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  The center panel is her smiling and walking away from the unknown person(s).  The third panel is her rolling over as several sticks and stones fly by.

Words can cause great harm, but words can calm and soothe.

These days, some words change their meaning as often as the wind blows.  Thinking of wind, it is whistling outside as I write this.

But sometimes you use a word and think it a good thing to say, and the other person takes it as an insult.  Was it a word that had changed meaning?  Was it a word that is used by a small group of people meaning something totally different?  Was the word misused or misunderstood?

My mother asked me one time how I was doing and I said, “Fair to Middling.”  My mother needed no provocation to flip into a tirade over something that I said.  She said to never use that term again.  Both terms were used in the cloth industry.  “Fair” was a poor grade of cloth, but you could use it in a pinch. “Middling” was below that, between Fair and Poor.  So, when someone says they are “Fair to Middling” they are saying that they are far less than fine and going downhill fast – according to my mother.

The next day, I went to her mother’s house after school and asked, “MawMaw, how are you?”

She smiled like she had just swallowed the cat and said, “Fair to Middling.”  I gave her my condolences.  Then she said I should explain myself.  I simply said, “I heard…” and then explained the etymology of the words.  Then MawMaw said, “So, you’ve been talking to ‘HER.’”  Did I ever mention that my mother hated her mother and MawMaw was simply tired of the relationship?

But here I got in trouble for interpreting the expression two different ways, a single generational difference or two people that did not like each other.

Then there was the safety slogan contest.  When I worked in South Carolina, each location within the plant had a large safety sign.  A new slogan was set up each month.  The winner got a reserved parking place near the entrance; less walking was a great benefit.  One location awarded the winning slogan to someone who said, “I upped my safety attitude, now U_ Y____.”  Words meaning “go higher” and the pronoun for second person possessive.  I hear it is a naughty expression.  And the words on the sign with each letter one foot in height.  Nobody missed it.  I have a vague idea what it means.  But the people who awarded the individual with the award and great parking place had no idea.  They thought it was a wonderful slogan since everyone arriving at work was smiling and laughing.  No one dared tell them the slogan was vulgar until the next month when a new slogan went up anyway.

Sometimes, we say something and do not mean any harm.  Other times, we meant what we said and we knew what the words meant.  We should learn to bite our tongue when we have the latter of those two kind of days.

And I doubt if Dorothy L. Sayers was speaking of “colorful” language.  In her first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, the first words are “Oh, damn.”

Lord Peter had forgotten his catalogue and the taxi was mere feet from the destination and turning around meant negotiating Piccadilly Circus two more times.  The novel noted that the cabbie was peeved, but Ms. Sayers avoided writing down what the cabbie said when Lord Peter told him to turn around.  Ms. Sayers added a “colorful” word, but rarely, just for authenticity.

Closing Prayer

Father, guide me.  Our tongues are a terrible thing.  I teach a Sunday school class, and I try to say the right things, but even then, I can offend one person or another.  “Offense” is so easy these days.  But what I seem to do more often is get off track, adding details that muddy the waters instead of clearing things up.  With some people that I know, the best way to keep the peace is to not say anything.  At least they tell me that they are offended that I am allowed to speak.  In that way, I enjoy writing.  I get a chance to review what I have written and catch a mistake.  I do not always succeed, but I do catch some mistakes.  And I thank you for guiding me in that endeavor.
In Thy Name I pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.