By Teena Myers
I attended a secular writer’s critique group for a decade. The leader founded the group for Sci-fi writers. He accepted what life gave him—a diverse group writing in different genres. He was the only one writing Sci-fi material. I was the only one submitting non-fiction Christian material.
Religion is a sensitive topic. We established a rule not to comment on whether we agree with a writer’s point of view. Comments were limited to how the material could be improved. Learning to critique without commenting on whether they agreed with me was a hill too high for them to climb. I made it a point to ignore insults. If necessary, I would turn the other cheek. In time, friendships developed, and we rarely had a contentious meeting.
But there remained a moment of dread when my work was critiqued. I never knew how they would react, especially when a new person joined. We had recently acquired a new member. Otto, a Jew uncertain about his heritage who attended the Synagogue but did not know why. When we critiqued Heaven’s Address. I was positive he would be offended by my Christian material.
The critiqued started on a contentious note. One member read from my chapter, “There are no good ole’ boys clubs in heaven.” Then, he took issue with the theme that God does not show favoritism. Clearly, I struck a nerve.
“That’s not true,” he said, “God plays favorites. He showed favor to – “
“David,” someone blurted out.
“Solomon,” he said.
“So, God is not just?” I asked. I couldn’t resist either and could have easily refuted God showed favoritism toward both names that surfaced.
“God is not fair and I’m entitled to my opinion,” he said.
He is entitled to his opinion even though we had a rule not to express such opinions. I decided that I’d said enough.
Several members who favored the “God shows favoritism” opinion had their say and then it was Otto’s turn to comment. I braced for another tongue lashing.
“I’m Jewish,” Otto said. “I’ve read the Old Testament a lot and this is DAMN fine material.” He continued his praise until I was embarrassed and wished he would stop.
The meeting ended and the member who set the contentious tone was the first to leave, or so I thought. Before I could leave, Otto picked up where he left off praising Heavens Address. I was humbled that a Jewish man who knew the Old Testament would be so moved by something this Gentile had written.
As I walked out of the bookstore, I heard, “Goodnight, Teena.” The man who declared “God is not fair” was looking at some books near the place Otto and I were talking. Apparently, he heard everything Otto had to say after the meeting as well.
I drove home feeling vindicated. The next time someone takes issue with your God, don’t defend yourself. There is a Jewish savior in heaven who just might send a Jew to defend you.
© Teena Myers 2022
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