Where
Did Jonah, Ron, and Alice Come From?
One of the most frequent questions that readers of Divine Intention ask
is "are the three friends from the fiction pieces real people?"
Alice,
Ron, and Jonah are composites of people I know. The fiction pieces
center around three friends who haven't seen each other in twenty
years, since they graduated from a Christian college. The act of
writing these pieces stirred up old memories and thoughts of fond
friendships.
Alice is composite of two close friends of
mine from my college days at Trinity. Kirstin and Alicia are two of
most natural leaders I've ever met. I wanted Alice to be a loyal friend
and a formidable opponent. Alice needed to have a deep passion for
justice. As I built her character I kept asking how Alicia or
Kirstin would have responded.
Ron? He's the listless one who
somehow drifted into his late thirties without being sure what I wants
to be when he grows up. So, sure, a few faces came to mind when I built
his character. But it would unkind to share that here.
Jonah
was built from my own personal experiences, but his story isn't
autobiographical. Jonah has weathered much while serving the church; Divine Intention
opens with Jonah unsure if there's a genuine spiritual reality behind
this thing we call the church. Many of the emotions that Jonah
expresses were borrowed from my own struggles with trying to nurture my
own spiritual life in the midst of church conflict.
Have a question? Click the envelope on the right to send me an email.
Larry
Fri, July 27,2007
Writing
Again
I've got the bug and have begun
work on my next book.
I'm
fascinated with the infancy narratives in the gospels of Matthew and
Luke. Most significantly by the odd-ball cast of characters that God
invited to witness Incarnation.
I'm
not yet under contract for this work so I won't say too much. For now
I'm chipping way at the manuscript and shopping for a literary agent.
On another note, I hope you tune into Harvest-TV on Monday. I'll be
making a live appearance on the show, 9 AM EST. The show is
rebroad-cast at 10 PM and 2 AM on DirecT TV (Channel 321).
Check
your cable provider also for local listings.
Larry
Requiem
for a Sailor
A friend of mine, Danny Barnard, is an gifted composer. A few years ago
he invited me to hear several movements of a piece he wrote, Requim for a Sailor.
The requiem tells the story of a ship wreck on Lake Erie. Danny has a
passion for maritime history and researched first person accounts of
ship wreck survivors.
Danny writes:
"The
Requiem for a Sailor began as an exploration of narrative
maritime literature from the age of tall ships. By their simple passion
and poignancy I became interested in first person accounts of shipwreck
survivors from this period. As I continued to work, I became aware of a
powerful connection between the concepts embedded in these
straight-forward accounts and those of the traditional requiem text. In
both cases, mercy and salvation are first and foremost on the
writers’ agenda."
I attended the performance and was quickly immersed in Danny's vision
for the project. The music captured the power of the storm and the
sailor's despair. Lyrically, Danny masterfully marries the sailors'
emotions with ancient lyrics from a Latin requiem. I wasn't
observing a choral performance; I was in the storm with the
sailors.
Then the music simply stopped. Danny hadn't finished the requiem. I
left the performance hall with strong, unresolved emotions that I still
remember years later.
Gratefully, Danny finished his requiem and I'll finally gain some
resolution.
The concert is May 6, 2007
3:30 PM Lecture
4:00 PM Performance
Blasco Library
H.O. Hirt Auditorium
160 E. Front Street
Erie, PA
Click here
to learn more about the piece and to hear selections from the requiem.
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