Talkshow Thursday: A Guest Post by Priscilla Bettis

Talkshow Thursday: 

A Guest Post by Priscilla Bettis

A few seasons ago, I traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, to help my mother.

While going into a sporting goods store, I saw a thin man huddled in the alcove of the entrance. I didn’t think he was hungry because it wasn’t a grocery store or a fast-food place. He must have simply looked for a spot that was out of the chilly wind. He was so motionless and crumpled-looking that I stepped closer just to make sure he was still alive. His eyes moved. He breathed. He was alive.

He also looked miserable.

Why didn’t I offer to pray with him? I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men (1 Tim 2:1 KJV).

Because I was a coward. I was embarrassed. I looked away.

Let me say here that I am a runner who logs several miles everyday. This man was not agitated. We were in a public area. Even if he suddenly got upset, I don’t think he could have leapt up in his obviously-weakened state and chase after me before I had run into the store or the crowded parking lot for help. It didn’t feel like a dangerous situation, so I can’t use that as an excuse.

Because I am a writer, I wrote about the incident when I returned home. I wanted to clarify my feelings.

After prayers and rewrites, my initial thoughts on paper morphed into a story, “Prayers Heavy with Smoke.” I moved the story to the South (where I live), and the man in the alcove became a teen, and “I” became a grandmother with an addiction. It’s one of the stories in my Christian short-story and poetry collection, Whispers of a Southern Moon. I can’t say how the story ends (spoilers), but my fictional ending is better than the way it ended in real life, and hopefully readers will like it.

By the time I finished my story, I had decided to work on being braver with my Christian beliefs. I’m now talking more about my faith. I’m observing my surroundings, too, and maybe there will come another opportunity to pray with a stranger … if I don’t look away.

ABOUT WHISPERS OF A SOUTHERN MOON:

An artistic, new collection of inspirational fiction and poetry by Priscilla Bettis.

Includes the award-winning story “Fix Your Face,” a “wonderful Southern Gothic piece akin to the work of Flannery O'Conner!”—Brooke Dreger, Editor, Solid Food Press

A simple man in rural Alabama risks his sanity to keep his sister alive. Lines of poetry celebrate the symphony of a Southern night. A sentient house deep in Virginia’s Great Dismal Swamp lures those it seeks to protect.

In Whispers of a Southern Moon, Priscilla Bettis intertwines short stories and poetry to create an inspirational collection of literary fiction and verse. Bettis explores questions about faith, love, and our perceptions of reality, and she does so with an elegant but fierce grip on the reader. This collection spans everything from Southern Gothic prose to Biblically inspired haiku. By the end of the collection, readers will be encouraged that even in the most twisted circumstances, God is present, and we are loved.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aWoXYe

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Priscilla Bettis is an avid reader and a joyful writer who lives in small-town Texas with her two-legged and four-legged family members. She enjoys writing fiction and poetry inspired by her awe of God and love for fellow human beings. Priscilla is the author of Whispers of a Southern Moon, a short-story and poetry collection.

Priscilla is a reviewer at The Well Read Fish, a Christian fiction review blog: https://thewellreadfish.com.
She chats about life and writing on X: https://x.com/PriscillaBettis.

Photo Credits:

Author photo and book image: Courtesy of Priscilla Bettis

Writing Hand: Pixabay/Pexels