Category: Reflection

Christianity and Science are and have been for a long time closely tethered and friendly. Many of the early scientists and many even today are Christians. I hope that remembering this encourages us to likewise remember the beauty of exploring the possibilities in literature.

There is a good dissection of the Hebrew symbols for this word that can be found here on CJ Lovik’s channel of RockIslandBooks. The description was so clear and easy to understand I wanted to credit it here since this type of research material can add meaning and appreciation to the central theme of my science-fiction novel – Seven Words. I do not mean to endorse any particular doctrinal interpretation of scripture and prophecy with this link, albeit there is a solid description of many key Christian beliefs. Instead, my focus is on the nature of how the word is put together since there are many parallels between this and elements of the story.

In 1980 my nightmares faced the childhood heroes of William Dennis Ward and his sidekick, Iron Man. In 1986 I discovered poetry. From then to 1990 my privilege was to be taught by such greats as Jonathon Turner – an English teacher in a small town whose heroism inspired far more than he ever knew. In 1994 after such men as Michael Allen of George Fox College (now GFU) continued that legacy I became an adult. In 2005 I learned the tests of fatherhood and the cost that all the afore mentioned men had paid to be who they were. In 2009 I lost nearly everything and 2013, I first recognized what it felt like to suffer the consequences of my own failures. Then in 2016 I learned patience and humility from a German named Stefan Jaenicke. In 2019 I did lose everything coming full circle to the hero, William, who reminded me of strength and another Clark Zoll, a Jew, who showed me hope and perseverance in the face of tribulation. Yet today in 2024 as I look to each of these years, I realize that one Great Man, Jesus, set all these other great men in my path. That’s 2000 years of great men. Thank you all for the example of a high bar.

Last year was eventful as I prepared for a very different kind of life than I have lived for some time. For many years I have felt the need to put into words a story that is quite different from those I’ve seen both in local stores and advertised in Christian circles. It is not a self-help text nor a historical account, but a parable intended to illustrate elements of the epic tale, we are all living in this day.

I have spent over twenty years in IT and before that six in Social Work for the Elderly – two very different professions, yet in both I have witness very similar struggles with the advance of a world that is rapidly losing its soul. Sometimes, moving on from the past is a good thing, but wholesale abandoning it is not. The rigidity, pride and greed of Victorian and Industrial eras left deep scars in their wake including very dark attitudes towards terms of civility like “lady” and “gentleman.” The role of gender in our life is lost to us as is the nature of our experience with God. In its place a selfish, fearful agenda has allowed many to warp the influence of God in our lives or worse remove it entirely. I watch now as we dabble in AI, body modification and have herculean struggles over issues of both private and public entities exerting ever more pressure on the world to gain more profit and influence. Our voices are filling with anger, wrath and malice and setting aside love, joy and peace – forgetting entirely Paul’s exhortations in Galatians 5:13-22 regarding these very things.

To that end I have decided to commit fully to completing my novel entitled “Seven Words” in 2024, a story set in a fantasy world where technology and miraculous powers sit side by side in an epic tale of love in the skies over worlds wracked by thievery, greed, bigotry, crime and hatred. A solar system ruled by vicious pirates and traitors face off against the intrepid and sometimes unlikely heroes who seek to bring to them the enlightened kingdom of Galatia long since lost to history. The genre sits somewhere between Steampunk and Aetherpunk and although it is fictional, it is an allegory deeply rooted in the very real sacrifice and purpose of Jesus. It is my hope that through reading about the lives of others in a fantasy, we might see the lies of our own villains and the hope that we all can have in one Hero beyond compare, if we will only be brave enough to have faith.

As one might expect the work starts simple, with little evidence of the finished product. So too it is with this site. The project is undertaken in prayer and patiently waiting for the work to show fruit. First, I need to gather the ingredients and the tools and purposefully select each keeping mindful of how they contribute to the whole. In the end it is as Isaiah 64:8 says, we are all clay in the hands of God, our plans will be shaped by Him.