"And then we artists who are trying to be God's speakers do a worse job than the atheists. Maybe it's because it's hard to be as steely real as one needs to be writing about God and his people when you are at the same time unconsciously wanting to be God's spin meister."
--an insightful comment by author Susan Britton in a recent e-mail exchange between us, in which I'd mentioned that Joss Whedon, an atheist, writes some of the best and truest stories around (particulary Firefly and Serenity), making me think again of Tolkien's words about pagan myths and "God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there."
(Image: from a painting by my daughter)