author's note

During one of Wanderer and my's back and forths, this one on another blog, about forgiveness, I said that I should probably write a story dealing with the subject. Forgiveness is one of the basic tenants of the Christian faith, and it is also one of the hardest to both understand and practice. I wanted to explain this in story form, which is easier than argument form, though not by much. In my brainstorming to figure out exactly how to do this, it occurred to me that I already had a story about forgiveness sitting abandoned and half finished in a composition book. Instead of trying to write a new story, I would simply pull out the old one, revise it, finish it, and type it up so I could post it here on Dawn. Well, I've revised it and typed it, but haven't quite finished it yet. Although, I do have thirty five pages done, so it will be weeks before I get stuck like I did with "Johnny". (Log on May 20th for my excuses as to why this one isn't done yet!)
This was/is a hard story to write, and I expect it will also be a hard one to read. Wanting to tackle forgiveness head on, I picked a sin that most people, even those within the Church who agree in principle with Christ's teachings on forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 6:14,15, Luke 6:37, 38, Luke 15, Luke 17:3,4, John 6:37, among others), would find simply unforgivable. How could a loving God forgive one such as Vincent J. Hynes? Isn't there an exception to even this rule? If there was, a man such as Hynes would be it. But God makes it clear that He accepts and forgives ANYONE who truly repents, and that He wants us to do the same, NO MATTER WHAT! Sorry if that bothers you, but it's Scripture, not just the ramblings of Arthur B Roberts.
In the coming weeks the meeting between Alex Woods and Vincent J. Hynes will be played out here on this blog and hopefully everyone reading this (hi, Steve!) will learn something new, if not the hows and whys and whos of forgiveness, at least the Biblical principles of it. I know that writing this story is teaching me new things.
Does this story fit my self ascribed genres? It's not Science Fiction or Fantasy, and though there are some elements of Horror in it, it doesn't really qualify there either. But even the great Stephen King (whom I have mentioned on my site more than once) write outside of the genres that everyone tries to pin him in. Anyone who has read "The Body" or "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" or the book Dolores Claiborne knows that stories sometimes defy genre. I am certainly not comparing myself to Stephen King, though if I did it would be similar to comparing an etch-a-sketch drawing to the works of Da Vinci. But, there is no other writer who has taught me more about the craft than King, and I hope that I can move as flawlessly from genre to genre as he does someday. Until then, please enjoy my ramblings, and leave comments letting me know what you think. I think that this story should spark some discussion, and I would like that discussion to be more than me and Wanderer.
God Bless, ABR
And, a side note to those of you faithful readers who are always looking for reasons to pray: Please pray for my friend Martha, who recently discovered that she has M.S. Please keep her in your thoughts, and even more so in your prayers. Thanks.