Kody Blackwell's "Whatever Gods May Be"

     Told through a third person narrator, whose voice I highly enjoyed, this story focused on a religous man named Thomas Abrams and his loss of faith. Thomas began filling in for his church as the preacher after his previous one resigned. As Thomas begins to really take on his role as pastor, giving up his coaching and teacing jobs at Ambert County High School, it seems as though he simply goes through the pastorial motions: visiting members, reading his Bible daily, etc. Throughout the coming year, we slowly see Thomas begin to doubt his own faith, becoming less and less concerned about his sermons, readings, and his God. Thus, resulting in the final scene where Thomas announces to the congregation that he can no longer preach things he no longer believes in himself, and we also find his wife has birthed a son whom they named Thomas.
    I really enjoyed the narrative voice through th story, however, I wish I would have been able to possibly read it from Thomas's perspective. At times, I am not completely convinced why Thomas simply abandons his faith especially in such an exciting and life-changing time as becoming a parent. I think it would be more impressionably moving if we could see Thomas's thoughts through the process because in the end it doesn't necessarily seem to be a big deal at all. Thomas walks up to the pulpit one day and basically says he quits. It would have ben neat to see the crowd's reaction, Bethany's thoughts, or something like that. Many religious leaders in the church are very confident in what they teach and live by, therefore, I find it hard for Thomas to let go of his faith so easily. Another tiny issue I had was with the way time passed. I know in order for someone like Thomas to doubt his faith it does take time, but I wish it would have been either a short amount of time, or maybe I just wanted to see time change through desciptions rather than being told? I'm not sure, maybe I'm just being picky/weird. Along with the narrative voice, I really loved the character Bert in the story. I found myself rooting for Bert as he showered Thomas with his wisdom and advice. Also, I thought the characters were extremely realistic and relatable, especially since we're in the "Bible Belt" and I loved the settings and little details like the congregation singing the hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross," in the opening scene. All in all, this story was very well put together and I loved the whole concept of the story. The character change through Thomas was well developed and easy to spot, and I liked that I did not see the story ending with Thomas's loss of faith. It threw me for a short loop in which I enjoyed. Great work!