Let's Get Personal

        

 

 

 

Let's Get Personal

     Though writing since I learned to spell, I did not  begin to do this full time until age 59. I will not annoy you with all the sordid details of my life, but will advance to the Vietnam War.

      Anyone involved in war is affected deeply in one way or another. My service in the Vietnam War was no different. I didn't come away just angry with God for allowing such inhumanity, but declared war against Him. I fought him with all I had, which isn't much when you are talking about God. Spewing hate and filth from my mouth toward God, I rarely missed an opportunity to verbally abuse Him.

     This went on for several years. During that time, I married a special lady that God set in my path to distract me. Still, I battered Him with all the vile words I could come up with. This insanity got to the point that I joined with another person to go through the Bible to prove its fiction; like much better people than I had not attempted such nonsense. God continuously turned the other cheek, or I would have been dead with the flick of his little finger. I carried on at that project till reaching Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount. That is when our Lord hit me with a broadside. I was finished - as a worthless opponent, anyway. I turned to my fellow delusional, saying, "This book is about nothing but love! It's a love story. Man is the guilty party. Man kills man, God loves man. It's over. I can't go on with this insanity." My friend refused to submit. We didn't hate one another, but that was the last time we saw each other.

     I was in College at the time majoring in English. I promised all my future writing to God. What an exciting prospect for God after what he had just been through with me. Furthermore, I felt I needed much more life experience to write for Him. At the time, I wasn't serious about Christianity or even belonged to a church.

     The years went by with little or no indication to our Lord and society that I was a Christian.

     One afternoon, after a severe back surgery that I thought I would never recover from, I broke down to God, saying, "I'm finished, and You have never called me to write for you."

     The next moment came a heart-stopping reply, "Get up! You're not dead. I'm the God of the living. I have work for you to do."

      I stood up, walked to the computer,  and never looked back. I thought that I was the greatest writer to ever walk the earth. Add to that the fact that I suffer from overconfidence at times and have too high of an opinion of myself at other times. God let me know just how far I had to go in my first writing contest. He laid me low with harsh comments from editors and a non-ranking. It didn't stop there, It went on for an unbearable time. Every time I got knocked down, God stood me back up and threw me back into the fray. Finally, the contest results began to change for the better.

     At that time, I was a member of a Christian international writing group named FaithWriters, and still am. Competition is the surest road to getting better. Success is built on the foundation of failure. Every time you think you are the cat's meow, enter a writing contest. That'll take you down a notch, and, if you really want it, you'll ask for God's strength and stand again.

     One day, while I sat feeling sorry for myself once again, I received an email telling me that I had a message on my FaithWriters' account.  It was a message from a very young lady in Nigeria. She said that she enjoyed my short stories and writings on FaithWriters. Working with Catholic Missions in Nigeria, her home country, she wanted me to write some articles for her Mission's work.  That was the key to the door.

     Over the next two years, I learned about  Africa and that my preconceived first-world misconceptions were way off base. These people were so intelligent and practiced Christianity that looked much more like Jesus Christ than anything in America. I was grievously reprimanded for using the word 'darn' in an article. I would lose contact with the Nigerians for weeks at a time when they were in hiding due to attacks by the ruling Islamic parties. Their lives were in serious danger if they were found. Then, I would hear from them doing business as best they could for God. I felt so deprived by not serving God under such dangerous conditions. We have no idea how strong these people are in their faith, and just how dangerous practicing their faith can be.

     After insulting these beautiful people on a daily basis due to my not being able to comprehend their over-the-top respectful ways that they address one another and their families, Rita Pam Tarachi offered me a publishing contract for my next book, WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE. It became an award-winning book of short stories. God Bless her and all the people of Africa. Too bad, the book's life was cut short due to the dangers of Boko Haram and other militant groups active in Christian suppression in Nigeria.

     This new novel began as a short story that was well accepted. It has been God's inspiration that has written the book. The first story went over so well that I wrote a sequel.  At that point, people began asking for more. The story would just not let me alone. It continued in my sleep and demanded most of my waking attention. It demanded to be made into a book. The characters became almost real. I'm currently looking for a devout young black man, preferably with a current or prior military background, to write the back-jacket endorsement. Oh, yes, I need Denzel Washington to play General Iverson in the movie. Do you think he'll work for minimum wage?

     Love you all! For God! 

A piece of my heart lies in Israel.

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