Published on February 01, 2010
by Amy Merrill (IAM Readers Guild, OKC)
The evocative language of Endo's writing places the reader inside the world of Sebastian Rodrigues. Through the eyes of Rodrigues, we see ourselves. Endo sketches each character to be neither completely good, nor completely evil. Their flaws mimic the issues and short-comings Christians face today. Rodrigues's apostasy brought an awareness to the times in our walk where we have failed to acknowledge Christ. Although those instances may not have been as blatant as stepping on the fumie, they serve as a reminder to never compromise the faith we hold so dear. When emotionally and spiritually challenging situations arise, God may respond to our prayers with silence. We take this silence as a rejection of our prayer, when in actuality we may be failing to hear His voice. We must listen for what Endo calls the "voice in silence." We stumble, just as Rodrigues stumbled. However, the story offers hope in that stumbling is a part of walking in faith. Human frailty, like Kijichiro, is ever present and without God's strength we cannot endure those trying times.
