A Response to Kody Blackwell's "Whatever Gods May Be"

"Whatever God's May Be" is a fascinating story about a man named Thomas Abrams. This is a man struggling with faith and cannot understand why. He sees the same miracles in every day life, such as seeing his son born and having a consoling and understanding friend named Bert, but nothing resonates with him like it should. He simply does not believe anymore. Abrams tries to push through the doubt and continue preaching to his congregation and giving them the answers they so long to hear, but he just cannot fake it anymore. So, one day he stands up and announces that he is stepping down as pastor from the church to try and find his faith. From that point on, Thomas Abrams will never understand the likes of God again and has no idea why.

Overall, this is a great story with an excellent premise. I think Kody's attention to detail is spot on and his references are great. He shows a strong understanding of the subject matter and the true battle people face on a daily basis with religion. Whats even more interesting to me is he poses the question,"What would happen if we just couldn't believe anymore? Do we just fake it?" Regardless, you have brought up some very interesting points and address them very well.

I think the characters are the reason this story works so well. You do a great job of establishing a voice within your main character and you personalize him very well. Also, the character of Bert and Bethany do a great job of contrasting the main character and his views. It provides a very good balance to the story. One that is usually missing from stories like this.

The story is told in third person, but could be worth considering to be told in first. I think by doing that you could add a very interesting thought process. I really want to see what is going through Abrams head throughout the whole story. Such as how he deals with this conflict and why he continues to push through something even though his passion has diminished.

I would also like to see a little more setting. Yet, be careful with that suggestion because too much will take away from the excellent story.

In the end, I think you have written a really well crafted story and cannot wait to read a final draft.