How Faith and Forensics Coexist in My Stories

At first, they might seem at odds: faith deals with belief. Forensics deals with proof. One asks you to trust, the other asks you to verify. But in practice, they aren’t in conflict. They’re looking at the same reality from different angles. Forensics answers what happened, while faith asks what it means. One examines evidence, the other examines purpose.

Both are present in my stories. Not competing, but completing.

I have a very strong belief system, but I also know that understanding facts is essential. Belief does not equal fact. It could--but it doesn't always. However, understand what we believe and, even more importantly, why we believe it, is just as important as whether something is factual.

Many deep questions don't have measurable, quantifiable answers, but that doesn't make them less important or less real. It simply means they require a different type of attention.

What life choices would make me the happiest?

Why am I here, on this earth?

Is there something bigger than me that exists out there, and if so, how do I relate to it?

These are questions that all people struggle with at one point or another. The fact that everyone doesn't agree on the answers doesn't make them less valuable.

In the Angels series, one of the tensions present throughout the books is that of faith vs. evidence. Father O'Brian and Mark Burton stand at somewhat opposite ends of the spectrum on this topic. While Mark's world is steeped in "what can I prove?" Father O'Brian's world is concerned with "how can I make sense of what I cannot see?" The two men, in that regard, are very different. But ironically, they are both searching for the same thing: truth.

What questions do you struggle with? How do you make sense of the things in this world--and there are many--that cannot be counted or measured?

That doesn’t make them less real.

It just means they require a different kind of attention.

📚 Angels Trilogy🌿 Savannah Mysteries

Because truth isn’t limited to what can be tested—

It also lives in what must be understood.