The Sin of His Father–Free Kindle Download

Today and tomorrow (March 1st and 2nd) I am offering my novel, The Sin of His Father, as a free download on Kindle. If you download and read, I would much appreciate a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

Thank you so much.

The Sin of His Father: a Story of the Healing Power of Forgiveness:

“Your father didn’t leave us, Mattie. I was raped.”These words, uttered by his mother on her deathbed, propelled Matt Maxwell into the fear that he could become like this man he never knew.

Abandoning the woman he loved, his closest friend, and a lifestyle that suited him well, Matt made choices that opened him to an unlikely friendship and a new relationship with the God of his youth. However, the terrible secret he harbored eventually took him down a path of self-destruction and alcoholism.

What would it take to embrace his truth, accept himself and his past, and discover peace in the power of forgiveness and love?

 

Martha or Mary? Mary Moments

Image: goodsalt.com

All my life I’ve fancied myself a “Mary”–a deep, contemplative spirit, lounging at the feet of Jesus–a sort-of mystic. But recently, a different sort of awareness has been edging me into reality.

These past two plus months have been incredibly busy. My husband was away, working on a major remodel of a place we go to in the winter to escape winter cold. During his absence, I assumed all the chores he does for us (I won’t elaborate). Oh, I knew what they were, but had no idea of the time he spent making our life better. And these don’t include the ones we share–for example, caring for the dogs. He was home for a few days, then we swapped places and I came down here to clean up the carnage and unpack myriads of boxes. In the midst of all this busyness, I completed a number of edits and finally published my second novel, The Sin of His Father, on CreateSpace…a fun, though time-intensive process.

Photo: sosaje.com

Now I sit down at my laptop, look around me at a space that was utter chaos a few weeks ago, and know the joy and satisfaction of completion. I’m ready to return home (a two-day drive) and resume a routine that is so much more balanced. It scares me!

Now what do I do, how do I spend my time? I know that I need to do something to promote my book (a task I abhor) but aside from my blogs and poetry, I have no huge projects to distract me from the art of grace-filled living.

Yesterday, in my morning prayer time, my perusal of Luke brought me to the story of Martha and Mary (Lk. 10, 38-42)–you know the one. Mary, sitting at the Master’s feet, loving, while she left her sister Martha busting her tush preparing dinner for the Lord. A bit of resentment stoked Martha’s fires and she had her say about it.

Mary has chosen the better part. That was Jesus’ message. I wonder how Martha felt about that?

In this reading of an oh-so-familiar gospel, it dawned on me, after fooling myself for so many decades, that I am no Mary, I’m really a Martha. Sometimes reality comes crashing in on us, and this was one of those moments. Now I’m trying to figure out how to reconcile the myth with the reality.

Since reading that, although I’ve been busy, I’ve tried a bit harder to grasp at Mary Moments. One of the ways I’ve done that is to black out TV and radio completely. I had been listening to grim news and Teaching Company CD’s non-stop in the background, while working. What a great way that was to silence the Spirit!

The experience wasn’t easy. Quiet allows all those thoughts we lock up to escape and haunt us. Some of them–unkind thoughts, anger–need to be faced and dealt with using prayer and forgiveness…oh yeah, and self-acceptance.

As I face a two-day drive through the Mojave Desert and the breath-taking Eastern Sierra, I promise you, I will be listening to some CD’s. I really don’t want to fall asleep at the wheel. But, in the meantime, I do hope to create space for silence…those blessed Mary-Moments.

Forgive Them, Father–They Just Don’t Understand

Image: Amanda Krill

I suppose I could do an entire post just listing the reasons I have been unable to write for however many days, but let’s just leave it at this: there are times when life gets in the way and the needs of those we love take precedence to everything else.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about forgiveness. My novel, The Sin of His Father, just released last week, bears the subtitle The Healing Power of Forgiveness. Coincidently, I have had to come face-to-face with the importance of forgiveness in my own life. Oh, not even close to the level of forgiveness demanded of the novel’s protagonist—but when the need to forgive another smacks us in the face, it can feel enormous.

The need to let go of rancor that simmers just below the surface came to my attention when someone who knows and loves both of us well, shared a seemingly insignificant fact about the person who is the source of my anger. This insight helped me understand better the behavior that causes me to react and changed my emotional response from a feeling of resentment to one of compassion.

I wonder if Jesus, in his prayer to his Father, had a clear grasp of the dynamics behind the Jewish leaders’ fear–a fear that drove them to the extreme of trying to destroy him? Of course he did.

I wonder what would happen if politicians made an effort to understand the motivating force behind one another’s point of view. Is it possible that maybe something would get done for the betterment of their (our) country as a whole, rather than for personal aggrandizement?

And if each of us took the time to talk to those with whom we have disagreements—I wonder if walls would fall down, revealing the needs and vulnerabilities of another, inviting us to acceptance and forgiveness.

When we say “God is Love,” aren’t we admitting that God is forgiveness, too? This is not the easiest part of loving, is it? However, who said love was easy?

Introducing: The Sin of His Father

“Your father didn’t leave us, Mattie. I was raped.”

These words, uttered by his mother on her deathbed, propelled Matt Maxwell into the fear that he could become like this man he never knew.

Abandoning the woman he loved, his closest friend, and a lifestyle that suited him well, Matt made choices that opened him to an unlikely friendship and a new relationship with the God of his youth. However, the terrible secret he harbored eventually took him down a path of self-destruction and alcoholism.

What would it take to embrace his truth, accept himself and his past, and discover peace in the power of forgiveness and love?

Available in Print and Kindle Editions–Click on Cover below.

Be Perfect Like…Are You Serious?!

Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

Well, you know, Lord. I’ve tried that and figured out that it just doesn’t work.

What in the world was Jesus thinking when he let this one slip? Surely, in the telling, the anonymous author of The Gospel According to Matthew got the message screwed up.

Photo: V. Slotto

Okay, Lord. Look carefully at these gorgeous flowers. Perfect, aren’t they? Well, maybe not. See that little shriveled one center, right? It’s either coming or going but it just isn’t as splendid as the others. However can you expect us to achieve perfection? Maybe for a moment in time, but not for the long haul.

I imagine an angel swooping down from heaven:

Let me set you straight, lady. First of all, it might have been a good idea if the gospel writer had used the word “perfected.” Perfect is a process. A process of becoming all you were meant to be. You can’t expect to achieve even a smidgen of that on your own. Next, apparent imperfection is a tool for learning. That is, imperfection in others and, above all, in yourself. Get over it. Forgiveness. That’s what you need. Forgive those around you and forgive yourself for not being what YOU esteem to be perfect.

And so I return to the seemingly endless job of editing my second novel, The Sin of His Father. I think I’ve read this thing a thousand times and still–it’s not perfect. Last night I received what I thought was the final proof copy and here I am, finding more mistakes. So, this will be the last edit. I know God is telling me to let it go, release it with love. After all, the theme of the novel is forgiveness, and I trust the typos or less-than-perfect formatting will be forgiven.

Are there areas in your life tin which you try too hard to be perfect?

 

Photo: amishhandquilting.com

This may be a myth, but I read somewhere that the Amish deliberately leave a mistake in their work to remind them that they are not perfect!