Since becoming a Christian in 2001, I've read a number of Christian novels. A lot of them are fluffy and light, depicting people who lean on God to help them resolve a few of the standard 'bad' things that happen to everyone, like the death of a parent or an illness. In so many Christian novels that I have read, the individuals are young, healthy, beautiful, and often more than comfortable economically. Despite the dangers the characters face or the problems they may be having, you still get the feeling that these people live somewhere in Hollywood and have never really faced the dark side of life. Don't get me wrong, those novels can be a pleasant read and very entertaining. But this novel - Vessels of Honor - is a whole other ball game.
Vessels of Honor deals with people who are struggling - struggling with poverty, with horrific diseases, with the pressures other people put on Christians to ignore their values for the sake of convenience or economics. This novel gets down to the nitty gritty realities of drug abuse, abuse of the elderly, and deals with the questions of divorce and abortion. It examines the issue of how easy it is for a Christian to set aside what he/she know is right in favor of what is easy. This novel is also about the pressure that is put on clergy to allow their congregants to do what is convenient in order to keep them in the church, keep the attendance high and keep the money coming in. It's about how the church (of any denomination) as an institution is often so busy 'adapting to the times' that it forgets why it really exists.
As I said, this is not a light and fluffy novel. It's hard hitting and painful to read. But it's also full of hope, showing us how one person, no matter how tired and depressed, can still make a difference if he sticks to what he believes. It's a lovely story about the choices people make and how they affect everyone else. It's a novel about the responsibilities of clergy and how 'loving thy neighbor' can still make a difference in the world, no matter how far out of fashion it may have gotten.
In addition, this is also an extremely well-written novel. Virginia Myers crafts an excellent story, writes interesting dialogue, and creates characters who make you care about what happens to them. This is definitely a book worth reading no matter what your values or what you believe.
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