Category Archives: Steel Chronicles
The Rope
This is the fourth entry from my upcoming booklet “Our Darkness, His Light”.
THE ROPE
Matthew 27:5
Samuel looked up from counting his money as the two men entered his shop. They were dressed in simple robes, their faces covered with black cloth, only their eyes visible. He quickly rolled the denarii he had been counting into a small piece of cloth and tucked it into the merchandise laying before him on his table.
The men had not come to the shop to purchase anything. They ignored the baskets, the ropes, the various artifacts that hung from nails around his small shop and walked straight across the floor to the table.
“It’s time to pay up, Samuel.” One of the men said as he slammed his fist down on the table. Various bits of merchandise clattered together from the sudden violence of the man’s blow. Samuel leaned back on his stool, his heart picking up its pace. He was having trouble breathing. He was getting too old for this nonsense.
“You tell your master that I will pay him when I have the money. I know that I own him a great deal, but I can only pay so much at a time.”
The Coin
The third entry from my upcoming booklet “Our Darkness, His Light”. Whatever happened to the rich young ruler who went away sorrowful after Jesus told him to sell everything and give it all to the poor. This is what may have happened.
THE COIN
Luke 18:22
Sunlight scattered off the coins as Abram let the golden disks cascade from one hand to the other. Normally, the sensation brought him joy. But, since his encounter with Jesus of Nazareth, his desire for the feel of the coins had diminished.
“Give it all away?” He muttered, dropping all but one of the coins in his tunic. “The man is insane! I can’t give it all away!”
He shook his head as he walked along the rows of beggars inside the temple, his eyes roving over the groveling figures. He came to the spot closest to the Pool of Siloam. The bent and deformed figure crouching in the dust was a stranger.
“Where is Simeon?”
Blinded By the Light
Another chapter in my upcoming booklet, “Our Darkness, His Light”. See yesterday’s post for more information on this upcoming booklet. Today, we meet the young man healed of his blindness by Jesus.
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
Based on John 9
“Can you stand here before the High Court of God and expect us to believe you? Do not lie to Caiaphus, the high priest.” Caiaphus spat the words at him.
Simeon was still amazed by the color red. He saw it now in the old priest’s cheeks. They glowed with anger. Simeon resisted the urge to reach out his hands to touch those hot spots, to feel the heat he had never seen before this day.
“We don’t believe you, boy!” The great, hulking figure backed away slowly, turning to survey a group of men dressed in black and white. Black and white. Black Simeon understood. That was all he had “seen” his entire life. White was new. It didn’t seem to fit these men and their coarse, cruel words.
Our Darkness, His Light
Today, I want to share with you the first chapter of a short book I hope to soon release through Amazon. The booklet tells the story of people who were present the last week of Jesus’ life. It tells stories from their point of view. And, while I have taken dramatic liberty with the stories, they are based on the real events of the Passion Week. Here, in Chapter 1 we see the Triumphant Entry on “Palm Sunday” from the viewpoint of someone who, I believe, was watching Jesus from the start of His ministry.
BY DARKNESS BOUND
Matthew 21:8-11
“It is dark in here.” The man’s voice was shaky with fear. Good!
Saul pushed the tiny clay lamp across his wooden table toward the man. The shadows flickered and moved across the man’s bearded face. “I prefer the darkness, Benjamin.” He whispered.
Sweat ran from beneath the cloth on Benjamin’s head and he licked his lips. “I followed the man like you asked me to.”
Saul leaned into the flickering lamp light. “And, where did he go?”
“To the temple. He met with the High Council.”
A Tribute to Leonard Nimoy
Sometime in the fall of my senior year in high school, I channeled Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy. In 1972, Star Trek had been off the air for three years. But, thanks to syndication, it was showing in the afternoons on my local television station. And, there was a brand new Star Trek cartoon on Saturday mornings.
When I first started watching Star Trek in September, 1966 I was 11 years old. I know. I’m getting up there. But, when I reach the age of 80, I’ll officially call myself a “senior adult”. And, then, maybe not. William Shatner is still going strong and he’ll be 84 this month. And, his best friend, Leonard Nimoy — well more on that later.
At the age of 11, I could not understand the nuanced messages hidden in the Star Trek story lines. I totally did not get the significance of the first televised interracial kiss between Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura. But, by the time I was 17 and a senior in high school, I got it! Watching the original series as an older teenager was like watching an entirely new show!
Thanks for the prayers!
As of last night, Mark Sutton underwent quadruple bypass surgery yesterday morning and was standing at the bedside in ICU talking on the phone with his wife, Donna. Hope today goes well. They thank all of your for the prayers!
Urgent Prayer Request!
Many of you are aware I have co-authored a book on depression with my retired pastor, Mark Sutton. Mark just contacted me and he will be undergoing quintuple heart bypass surgery tomorrow at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Please pray!
Hugging Darkness
I was alone in the dark bedroom. I had pulled the sheet and blanket up over my head to shut out the world. I wanted no light; no sound; not even a speck of floating dust to touch me. I wanted to not BE.
Pain so bad it took my breath away filled every fiber of my being. Not physical pain. Emotional pain. And fear, yes there was fear. If I could just shut the world out for a few moments I might find some relief from this pain. Perhaps I could sleep? Probably not. Often elusive, sleep came for me with great difficulty and even if I did manage to slip into a sleeping state I knew it would not be restful. Because the dreams waited for me. Vivid, realistic, outlandish dreams. Read the rest of this entry
The Innkeeper
I want to thank my faithful readers and wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. To close out 2014, I want to share a very special story with you.
The Innkeeper
That night the trek had been arduous and demanding up the rocky slope to the winding Roman road. I had spent most of the day tending the tenants in my inn but the streets of Bethlehem were so crowded, I couldn’t take it anymore. Leaving Lydia behind to tend to the last few customers, I decided it was time to take my annual walk up the mountain.
The road on the mountain side wound its way past Bethlehem toward the distant city of Jerusalem. They say the Roman roads connected every city in the empire to Rome. All roads led to Rome. And, they say the Romans brought us a more civilized, advanced way of living. But, the cost of that way of life was at the expense of their terrible cruelty. They had given power to our “king”, Herod. And, there were times his cruelty surpassed even that of the Romans.
Bruce Hennigan 
You must be logged in to post a comment.