Introduction Part One: A Work of Fiction!
I’ve
witnessed many “religious” folks over the decades, especially these last years,
who jumped to conclusions about certain media publications, condemning the
works, programs, or shows before ever actually reading or viewing them. We all
make judgments based on preconceived notions, imbedded ideas, doctrinal
stances, or just plain old bigotry.
In recent times, the religious community has chastised such fantasies as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Da Vinci Code, or The Shack episodes belittling them for their heretical sorcery or sacrilegious stances – frightened that they just might coerce some into belief in a different type or level of spiritual supposition or “truth.” At the authors’ own admissions, these were intended to be enjoyable and delightfully whimsical adventures and mysteries to entertain – seldom anything more. Imagine! is cut from the same mold.
My intent is certainly not to mislead, trivialize, or poke sacrilegious “fun” at any doctrines or beliefs. Additionally it is not to “convert” anyone to or from any religious or spiritual dogma or thought. The purpose of this writing is simply to imagine by pondering the “what if” fantasy or playing the “how might it have been” game. Though much of this is based on the truths in God’s Word, the storyline is certainly not “truth.”
When possible, I have tried to use actual episodes, words, conversations, and descriptions from the Bible (generally New International Version) staying true to what is stated about heaven, the Trinity, and the pre-creation-of-mankind era (remarkably little). The rest, the vast majority, is pure (or amalgamated) speculation. For example when the chronology of years in Genesis Chapter 5 is carefully calculated, it becomes evident that not only was Methuselah (recorded as the Bible’s longest living individual at 969 years) not part of his Grandson Noah’s ark building project; but the old guy actually died the year of the flood. That’s where my imaginings meet the reality of scripture. Methuselah’s father Enoch walked closely with God for the first 300 years of his son’s life; however, when God found the righteousness of Noah and his immediate family amid the great wickedness of all mankind (Genesis 6:5), Methuselah was not numbered among them; hence my suggestion that he may have actually ignored his grandson’s preaching and drowned in the flood. I trust that it is not wrong to fantasize in such a way about the Bible stories and the marvelous nature of eternity as I do hope to see the fantastic reality of it someday.
My mind-wanderings had their genesis (no pun intended – or not much of one anyway) on a Sunday morning in August, 2006, while listening to my minister preach a sermon in Columbia, Tennessee, on “I haven’t the foggiest idea what.” You see, as soon as he started talking (it may have actually been something he said), my mind lighted on the possibility of imagining heaven from the viewpoint of Jesus. The ideas came quickly as I pulled a previous week’s Sunday evening sermon outline (from the same minister – I do actually pay attention sometimes) and started scribbling frantically on the blank back of the sheet. It was much like waking up at 3 a.m. with thoughts about making my college classes more creative and meaningful. I learned over the decades that if I don’t grab pen and paper and jot down those ideas immediately, they frequently vanish by morning – much like many of my really neat, adventurous dreams. I may remember I had a great dream in the night, but I may not be able to conger many of the details or images.
That was the beginning of this “novel” experience. This is a work of fiction, a figment of my imagination, scarcely more. If you find it enjoyable, fine. If not – or if the ideas are repulsive, don’t condemn me to hell, just hit the delete button and find something else to peruse tomorrow that you can enjoy. But…if you can get past all that denotative and connotative stuff collected in your brain from years of life on this finite earth, settle back and let me try to help you discover what might have been prior to “In the beginning…”
In recent times, the religious community has chastised such fantasies as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Da Vinci Code, or The Shack episodes belittling them for their heretical sorcery or sacrilegious stances – frightened that they just might coerce some into belief in a different type or level of spiritual supposition or “truth.” At the authors’ own admissions, these were intended to be enjoyable and delightfully whimsical adventures and mysteries to entertain – seldom anything more. Imagine! is cut from the same mold.
My intent is certainly not to mislead, trivialize, or poke sacrilegious “fun” at any doctrines or beliefs. Additionally it is not to “convert” anyone to or from any religious or spiritual dogma or thought. The purpose of this writing is simply to imagine by pondering the “what if” fantasy or playing the “how might it have been” game. Though much of this is based on the truths in God’s Word, the storyline is certainly not “truth.”
When possible, I have tried to use actual episodes, words, conversations, and descriptions from the Bible (generally New International Version) staying true to what is stated about heaven, the Trinity, and the pre-creation-of-mankind era (remarkably little). The rest, the vast majority, is pure (or amalgamated) speculation. For example when the chronology of years in Genesis Chapter 5 is carefully calculated, it becomes evident that not only was Methuselah (recorded as the Bible’s longest living individual at 969 years) not part of his Grandson Noah’s ark building project; but the old guy actually died the year of the flood. That’s where my imaginings meet the reality of scripture. Methuselah’s father Enoch walked closely with God for the first 300 years of his son’s life; however, when God found the righteousness of Noah and his immediate family amid the great wickedness of all mankind (Genesis 6:5), Methuselah was not numbered among them; hence my suggestion that he may have actually ignored his grandson’s preaching and drowned in the flood. I trust that it is not wrong to fantasize in such a way about the Bible stories and the marvelous nature of eternity as I do hope to see the fantastic reality of it someday.
My mind-wanderings had their genesis (no pun intended – or not much of one anyway) on a Sunday morning in August, 2006, while listening to my minister preach a sermon in Columbia, Tennessee, on “I haven’t the foggiest idea what.” You see, as soon as he started talking (it may have actually been something he said), my mind lighted on the possibility of imagining heaven from the viewpoint of Jesus. The ideas came quickly as I pulled a previous week’s Sunday evening sermon outline (from the same minister – I do actually pay attention sometimes) and started scribbling frantically on the blank back of the sheet. It was much like waking up at 3 a.m. with thoughts about making my college classes more creative and meaningful. I learned over the decades that if I don’t grab pen and paper and jot down those ideas immediately, they frequently vanish by morning – much like many of my really neat, adventurous dreams. I may remember I had a great dream in the night, but I may not be able to conger many of the details or images.
That was the beginning of this “novel” experience. This is a work of fiction, a figment of my imagination, scarcely more. If you find it enjoyable, fine. If not – or if the ideas are repulsive, don’t condemn me to hell, just hit the delete button and find something else to peruse tomorrow that you can enjoy. But…if you can get past all that denotative and connotative stuff collected in your brain from years of life on this finite earth, settle back and let me try to help you discover what might have been prior to “In the beginning…”
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