Tygan Shelton talks about writing his short-short story, “The Missionary“, which was recently published at Daily Science Fiction.
“He looked me straight in the eyes, and I knew he was Jesus.”
The Australian man spoke earnestly. My missionary companion and I were sitting at a picnic table in a park in a small city of New South Wales, and we were listening to this man describe Alan John Miller, a Queenslander who also happened to be the reincarnation of Jesus. And I was loving every word. I didn’t believe a word, but the strangeness of his doctrine mixed with the sincerity of his faith filled me with wonder. Plus he wasn’t pushy, like so many born-again Christians, atheists, and fellow Mormon missionaries I had met. I would much rather learn about the 100 levels of enlightenment than bother strangers on Main Street for another hour.
Maybe that’s why I love speculative fiction so much. You take a bizarre idea and treat it with enough seriousness to build a story out of it. Maybe it’s also why I love learning about religions on the periphery—like Yazidism, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Unification Church, my own Mormonism. And I definitely love the combination of speculation and religion. Some of my favorite books are those that mix science fiction and sacredness, messiahs and magic—like Watership Down, Sabriel, Good Omens, and Steven L. Peck’s Wandering Realities. Stories that explore what would happen if religion gave you irrefutable supernatural aid. If deities’ power depended on the faith of their worshipers. If the god of one religion wanted to join another.
This last question is something I explore in my short story “The Missionary”. This story was inspired by the proselyting heroes I had as a young adult, like Ammon and Paul. Their missions resulted in clear divine favor, if not always converts. But what if their divine experience was with a different divinity? What if, despite the seeming superiority of Ammon’s message, King Lamoni personally introduced him to the Great Spirit? What if I had looked Alan John Miller straight in the eyes and realized he was Jesus?
I’m not as certain about things now as I was on my mission. That’s caused some complications, but I think it’s a good thing overall. It keeps me open to possibilities. If the Black Rabbit of Inlé takes me home to Lord Frith when I die, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed—just pleasantly surprised.
Tygan Shelton (@tyganthered) was raised mostly in Montana and Idaho and is a graduate of Brigham Young University. He now lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two children, where he reads and writes code and speculative fiction.