Programmed by both popular culture and experience, we too often think of preachers as unworldly hot-house creatures, ill equipped to face challenges of a brutal real world. In her new book, “Rekindled,” Teresa Irizarry gives us a fresh take on a well-known character from America’s earliest days. Irizarry, who has ties to Northeast Texas, recasts Roger Williams, one of the Baptist Church’s founders, in the pioneer spirit of a Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett while still giving due respect to…..
There are thirteen Thanksgivings in the calendar year of the Narragansett people. Seems other Americans in our day only got 7.7% of the lesson, even though the Pilgrim’s own Bible said to always be thankful. The very same sentence tells us to rejoice always. Notice it is a verb: something you do, as opposed to a feeling. Christmas is a time for rejoicing in memory of the arrival by birth of Jesus. We are joyous because Jesus rescued us, and…..
Until there is company, a still silence Harbor ice presses the silence suppressed waves A flutter of hope for what lies unseen beyond A leaf of dark eternity in another prickly minute gone Ready, waiting For the bloom of God with us Waiting for Emmanuel A Merry Christmas all who wait! Order historical fiction novel Rekindled with the button below. Share This:
The Blue Ink Review beat out the competition to provide the first professional review of the book Rekindled, posted here. I was warned to have a thick skin on this review business. Really, it is a fine review. It gets the spirit of the book right. What they say about what I did is true — I certainly did not make the characters use archaic language as that would have made the story really hard to read. I stand by that, even…..
Roger stood in the 1600’s for life and liberty. Since the 1700’s we’ve believed in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The goal of happiness may spawn from an increased focus on the individual, a focus that took a big step forward with Christ’s recognition of each soul as valuable. However individualism did not fully flower until after Roger Williams was gone. It seems now that happiness has overtaken life and liberty as the most sacrosanct goal. If we…..
When I was an engineer, my mentor told me I had to choose. I could either get things done or I could take credit for getting things done. There is simply not time be the best at both. It seemed incredibly unfair at the time, but all my subsequent experience showed that I was better off getting things done and pairing up with people who wanted to spend time getting credit (they usually shared credit anyway — at a fraction of the…..