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Providence

“Have you always had that necklace, papa?” the boy cast his line next to Averil.

Averil propped his fishing pole against the wall of the makeshift storage shed behind the two of them and sighed, his smile dimming as he grasped the pocket sextant hanging from a bronze chain around his neck. His wistful eyes stared intently, unconscious of his momentary reverie while he took the necklace off to examine its warped an charred edges. His finger traced absently around the circumference of the engraved artifact until it reached one of the bent needles that at one time had pointed to alien numbers that he did not know how to read, “This ol’ thing? I’ve had this since before you were born. It found me and because it did, you were born.”

“What is it?”

“My old commander, your uncle, told me that it was an ancient sextant made by a race of beings far from here.”

“What’s a sec tant?”

Averil chuckled at the gaff, “It’s a tool made to measure the sky. Help’s someone like me or my old captain to find our way when there’s nothing but water and the stars to guide us.”

“So I was born because you found a way to measure the whole sky?!”

Averil laughed and rubbed the boys head, “Not quite, but when I found this little item it was next to a very special gemstone that could hold and heal a spirit that could live inside of it”

“Wow… I’ve never heard of a stone like that before.”

“Well, the stone belonged to someone who’d gotten very lost and the short version is that because I found this sextant, I was able to help my friends find that soul and bring peace to this whole lake.”

“You did that for all of Aerishael? Really papa?”

“I didn’t do it alone, of course, but that is a much longer story. Maybe next time Uncle Jorge comes round we can tell you all about it.” Averil’s smile broadened again as memories flooded back of a very different time. He looked up to the orange Jovian planet in the sky above them and a single tear formed in the corner of his eye as he reminisced. “Creator bless him.”

“Promise you’ll tell the whole story, papa?” the boy asked.

Averil looked at the boy, his eyes ever so faintly wet and he put the necklace over his son’s neck, “Promise.”

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Why Promote Christian Science Fiction?

Professor John Lennox is inspiring, compassionate and brilliant. I humbly submit this video provided by John Anderson Media to encourage Christians to boldly explore Science and as corollary Science Fiction in literature.

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.

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Moaning Reefs

Averil smiled broadly, his old weather-worn face glowed with happiness from beneath his fisherman’s hat as he looked from his barrel seat in front of the day’s catch at a boy of about nine years. The boy was dressed in cut-off kaki shorts and dirty white shirt with its baggy sleaves rolled up tight. He was carrying a fishing pole far too tall for him just as though it was perfectly natural, “Dad, why do they call them the moaning reefs?”

The two sat at the end of a lake pier with two small crates filled with fish and some kind of tentacled squid catch as Averil shared his story, “That’s a scary story, son, about a great sea monster who turned out to be nothing of the sort.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was the second time in my life where I had an encounter with one the greatest creatures in all Huan’hai, called a Gonago’lai. I didn’t know at the time that she would turn out to be one of our greatest friends because both times that I ran into her I thought I’d never see land again.”

“Wow, dad. What happened?”

“Well, I was taking that very fishing boat around the reefs when all of the sudden beneath the waves I saw this pattern that looks like that cobblestone road over there only blue and deep underwater- and it was moving. That’s when I heard it. The long, low sounds of the whole bay moaning – everywhere at once! The boat started to toss and water parted in every direction as the bottom rose up to the surface until something hit the bottom of my boat hard.”

“What next? Did it eat you?”

Averil laughed, “I certainly hope not or you would’ve never been born!”

“Oh, yeah. Right!” The little boy laughed sheepishly.

“Well, what did happen next was the strangest thing ever at sea. Without warning fog rose up and swirled around me and I felt something in my head vibrating loud, like my own bones were shaking. Just then I saw in the mists the most beautiful maiden, second of course to your mommy, walking toward me. All around her there were images of people and places here, in sky, even deep below the sea appearing and vanishing all at once. Then. Nothing. All I remember was alien words, like a song, of that woman in my head before I passed out. Much later, I woke on the wet deck of my boat, sea-weed in my mouth.”

“Eww!”

“Well, I had run aground right at the delta of the river and found out later that it had been three days!”

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The Fisherman

Little Pajong. AI concept v1

“How did I get that ol’ girl?” A black bearded fisherman scratches his grizzled chin and looks up, trying to remember. One wrinkled eye winces and winks closed as he leans back against the pier post and crosses a leg before smiling as the memory comes to him.

“So long ago, I almost forgot. This relic behind me,” he points to a small fishing boat that slowly bobs and sways with the gentle ripples in of the lake Pajong Gai. “I had to ferry her down the river at the other end of the lake. Won her on a dare. The man who bet me had no idea that I’d already served in a merchant fleet off the coast of Crashton. Now there be waves and storms the likes of which this ol’ gal is glad to be rid of. Her previous owner, one Fezzle Drafton, dared me to take her out to the Moaning Reefs, out past the furthest edge of the trade routes that travelled all along the shores and even up the river to this lake. I guess the thing was, he was so annoyed with the way the engine sputtered and chugged the water that he was glad to be rid of her if only he could’ve found someone knew how take her out to sea and prove themselves worthy a captain. Of course, he half said it in jest on account of the fact he was covered head to toe in oil from his last miserable attempt to get the girl in working order. I had made some off hand remark about his land-lovin’ ways and that was that. He challenged me. I accepted. But the real tale is how I got all the way to the reefs edge and learned the reason it was called the Moaning Reefs.”

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Lesson of a poet, Amy Carmichael

Thank you for this gentle reminder, David Johnson and Pat Kahnke. After hearing this poem, I sought the entire text that was read in Pat Kahnke’s pod cast. I found an excerpt of the text on Lifelines Publishing. Out of respect for these persons and the author, Amy Carmichael, permit me to only link to this poem rather than quote it with the introduction that it is a beautiful challenge that alludes to the cost of Jesus’ love.

No Scar? (a poem by Amy Carmichael) – posted by LifeLines (lifelinespublishing.com)

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Announcing – Nano Stream Stories

I’m announcing a new feature to The Potter’s Clay Life as a service for all visitors – Nano Streams. These tiny stories capture “a day in the life” of characters who live in the Seven Words world. Once or a twice a month a new post will appear exclusively here on the author’s home which is a tiny snippet into the life of various characters throughout Seven Words.

Each story will be accompanied by a single AI created image as an unofficial, complimentary sketch of the scene or snippet for entertainment purposes as fair use. This gives guests, fans and contributors glimpses into the upcoming novel as well as the larger series of books by Jasen Ward which all take place in this same world. The first of these, entitled “The Fisherman” will be released in July!

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Book Progress Update – “Sekhut”

Although still in the novel’s pre-release state, Seven Words is making good progress and the team of reviewers and members is getting a couple of updates soon! One of them is a custom font and the early primer on the Sekhut language, a construction language (conlang), specific to one of the central societies in the novel. Work is starting on integrating elements of the cuneiform inspired runes into The Potter’s Clay Life site. Over the next several months the site will start to get new content inspired by this alphabet which was designed by the great folks at Vulgarlang.com.

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Ahavah

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.

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Thank you…

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.

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Work In Progress

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.