Into the Fire

Sunday's Offerings

 

In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares,

   but he who guards his soul stays far from them.

 

Proverbs 22:5 (NIV)

Promotion . . .

              

                

You know I loathe promoting myself. That's not to say I don't believe in my work because I do know that some people have enjoyed my stories and found something meaningful in them.

But it's Friday, and I've got little to say other than these are my two novels formatted for e-readers, The Famous One only for Kindle and Destination for all versions. They're priced inexpensively ($1.99 and $2.99 respectively) and do contain the gospel message to be upfront about their spiritual content.

The Famous One reads like a fictional biography and Destination is a small town love story. Here are the blurbs:

    The Famous One takes an introverted yet passionate character of few words and deep running emotion and puts him into the spotlight of fame where he is hungry for value, substance, and real love but struggles to find them.

 

     Life leads us to and from many places, but when it comes to eternity there are only two choices for our destinations . . .

     An unlikely felon returns to his roots and the friendship of a fiery old widow.  The last things he expects to find are true love, a ministry to youth, and the unusual burden for his new love’s ex-fiancé.    Destination

 

Father, thank you for the privilege and pleasure of writing my novels. You provide the inspiration. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Because again . . .

 

Here is the light and dark of it. Kitchens with ambience, room, and beauty. Love big kitchens.

 

Lord, you know me. And I'm grateful for that. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Weird and Wonder . . .

       

Combine Tim Burton and Johnny Depp and apply them to a weird little tale of Alice In Wonderland and you will come up with scenes such as this which will make you smile in spite of yourself.

 

Father, you know my heart. Please. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Masterpiece

 

Maybe all writers don't consciously intend to author a masterpiece, but the ones I know all desire to write something meaningful. From humor to drama to western to contemporary, I don't know a single writer who doesn't work diligently to create something of value. Preferably, lasting value. To be remembered. Whether it be with a giggle or tears, a whimsical wish or an applicable hope, we want to leave a reader with a good memory for having invested in what we wrote.

Masterpiece might be grandiose, but sometimes when we really feel the anointing to write a story, when we're done with the process, it feels like our hearts touched that place reserved for reverent experiences.

I suppose most of us appreciate certain artists and their paintings or sculptures whether or not they are identified as The Masters of old. Will some contemporary artists eventually belong to their esteemed grouping? Impossible to know. You can bank on the fact that each one sets out to wow whoever views their work - and of course to satisfy his soul.

We writers in the faith can understand the source of our creativity and the pleasing nature of our dedication to fulfilling our callings. I suspect the Lord takes far more pleasure from our determination to be obedient to His instruction than we realize. And I assume He enjoys the finished work dedicated to Him with gratitude.

I admit I long to compose a novel which some might call a masterpiece, but I doubt I ever will. I'll settle for pleasing the Lord and a few readers along the way of my journey here.

 

Father, thank you for the privilege of writing stories. Thank you for the inspiration that I can't find anywhere else but from you. Thank you for your generosity when I don't deserve it. And of course I'm desperate for you. And thank you is never, ever enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The effort to . . . Go Set A Watchman

                

The timing is suspicious, the controversy intense, the questions abound, but here it is anyway, the second book by Harper Lee, Go Set A Watchman.

Let me skip over the supposed origin of the story and just take it at face value. To do that I must admit to being a youngster in the 50s, a "Yankee" or a "nothena" (northerner), specifically a daughter of the northwest. And naively oblivious to the troubles of the south and, frankly, to its history. My sheltered city life didn't teach me to subjugate any people. I can honestly say I did not consciously know prejudice. This simple fact of my upbringing makes it difficult and slightly unfair to critique this type of southern novel.

When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, I visited a friend. While she readied herself for whatever we planned to do, I happened to see the TV was on in the living room where I waited. I watched while a man took a brick to another man who happened to be black and beat him in the head with it. I almost vomited. This wasn't a newsreel, it was a drama of some kind. The sound effects were advanced because I never forgot the sound of that brick meeting a skull. If what I saw was about prejudice, I didn't realize it at the time, and I don't remember anything else about that day except the sound and sight of that beating.

So, Scout (Jean-Louise) Finch grows up and moves to New York and returns for a visit to the fictitious town of her birth in Alabama to visit her father (Atticus), his brother (Dr. Finch), sister (Alexandra), and her childhood companion and first love, Henry "Hank" Clinton. The trip begins well, although she wonders if she truly wants to have a romantic relationship with Hank even though he plans to marry her.

By this time, her dad's arthritis is advancing and he requires some assistance from his sister since their Negro housekeeper Calpurnia has since retired. Her aunt's odd situation has allowed her to move into Atticus' home. Life seems somewhat unchanged to Jean-Louise until she attends a town council meeting and is shocked to hear the guest speaker. At that point, everything she thought she knew about her upbringing, her father, Hank, and her aunt comes tumbling down around her, rattling her to the point of near hysteria.

She confronts her father with her ire in full force and is shocked at his response.

The story rocks back and forth from the present to the past memories from Scout's/Jean Louise's point of view, noting the similarities but concentrating on the differences from her childhood to her womanhood of 26 years. The contrast in her perceptions of her father and Hank drive her to an unlikely scene with her aunt and uncle which somehow placates her attitude and allows her to reconsider the emotional outburst which spewed her wrath at Hank first and then her beloved father.

Poisonous racism and the associated insidious attitudes of the south from both sides of the racial divide in that time period lie at the heart of this novel, so it's interesting - and rather suspicious - to consider the timing of the release of this novel. It feels as if there is a political underbelly to the controversy around this book coming into print after all these years.

The story is almost like a journal of Scout Finch's progress from her youth to a young woman, always rebellious to the process of becoming a "southern belle". An intentional misfit, a bit profane, not always likeable, she somewhat resents the town of her origin and its traditions, railing against the prejudices she failed to notice in her early life. The title, a rough reference to a biblical concept, suggests that mankind can "set" his conscience as a guard to corruption, but clearly mankind cannot always successfully do so.

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee will reflect some of those feelings experienced in the south during those racially-charged years, and, sadly, once again we see an attempt to resurrect them in our time.  

 

Father, only you know the hearts of mankind, and only you can save our souls. Thank you that you even consider any of us worth saving. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.     

 

Sunday's Offerings

 

". . . It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

 

Luke 12:38-40 (NIV)