Christian Symbol - Score!

The Christian symbol I mentioned the other day has started to take on that life of its own, that symbols in a story do, when you let them grow and connect with other things. (And this symbol, like most all I weave in, was not in my original conception of the story, since my original conception of a story centers on plot and not on symbolism.)

The grandfather who is (more or less unwittingly and unwillingly) haunting his family, was a devout man, and a master carpenter. He made an ornate wooden cross.

His son grew up to be an atheist and hate everything his father stood for. But he really liked that cross: it was the only thing he could remember, growing up, that was beautiful and not austere, and it conveyed to him some sense of wonder and mystery, rather than the guilt and sin he felt his father's religion usually pounded into him.

But the father really didn't like the cross. He felt it was too pretty, too much a tribute to his craftsmanship and therefore would detract from Jesus. And the way his son looked at it when he was growing up made the father feel even worse for creating it, as though he had made some sort of idol. He almost blames the cross for his son becoming an atheist (though that might be going to far).

So, of course, the grandkids have to get a hold of the cross and give their interpretation of it, for the other two generations to come to some healing.

This is the fun part of writing.