CHAPTER SEVEN—21^ST CENTURY

Lying in bed I tried to put the evening’s events into perspective. Here I was in the middle of the Arizona desert. Just north of Mexico in a strange industrial complex waiting to meet a billionaire who has offered me five thousand dollars just to chat for a couple of days. I’ve just finished a gourmet meal, drank very expensive scotch, and now I’m smoking a real Cuban cigar. Another little treat Doctor Staan had in my trailer. There’s a high-speed guard outside my door, I continued, I’m surrounded by a chain link and razor-wire fence guarded by some of the best-trained rent-a-cops money can buy but I have no idea what I’m doing here.

Had I missed anything? No, that about puts everything into perspective. Might as well get some sleep.

I sat up and put the cigar in the ashtray on the nightstand. Taking another pull on the scotch I laid back down and was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Read the rest of this entry

The total eclipse of 2024 has come and gone and I’ve got to say I wasn’t all that impressed.

Total Eclipse 2024

Don’t get me wrong as far as I can remember this was my FIRST and perhaps only total eclipse in my 68-plus years and it was pretty cool, both figuratively and literally, during the four minutes of darkness…but. Then again, maybe I’m a bit jaded. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land.” Matthew 27:45. Now THAT’S an eclipse.

But was it an eclipse? Read the rest of this entry

CHAPTER SIX—1^ST CENTURY

I was in sight of the Golden Gate. I’d managed to duck James and the others and was going over in my mind what I remembered about the Gospel’s description of the events. I was also trying to decide what I was going to do. I knew that if Jesus wasn’t turned over to the Sanhedrin tonight time would be altered–what would that mean? I wondered—had it already been altered?

A world without a crucified Jesus meant a world that never saw the rise of this new religion called Christianity. Some see the Christian religion as causing millions of people over the ages to die because of this man and his apostles. It may have been that millions had died in the name of Jesus, but it was not necessarily his fault. After all, I’d spent the last three years with him, and I knew what Christianity had become in my century wasn’t what Jesus intended. It was, however, in his name that the Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the religion of Rome and forced pagans to submit to the new religion or die. It was also in his name that unknown numbers of Native Americans would be killed if they refused to convert to the Old World’s religion. Then there were the crusades, the Inquisition, the Jews that died throughout the ages, and the martyrs all either dying because of him or for him. Read the rest of this entry

Forgive me, a sinner. “God forgives, and I forgive”.

And thus we begin our Lenten journey in the Eastern Orthodox faith. At the end of our Sunday liturgy, we ask forgiveness of each member of our congregation and they mutually ask forgiveness from us. It’s a humbling and emotional time, one that’s been discussed in the homely by our priest, Father Methodios, as one of the pillars of our Lenten journey.

We’re familiar with fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as three of the struggles we’ll have over the next 40-plus days, but this year Father Methodios wants us to especially concentrate on forgiveness. Something not easy to do in this crazy world today. The gospel reading is from St. Matthew (6:14—21), where Jesus tells his disciples you must forgive others or you will not be forgiven. They’re reminded to fast privately and not make a big deal about eliminating meat, fish, dairy, eggs, wine, and oil for most of the journey. And we’re reminded to give alms by remembering that we shouldn’t worry about laying up treasure in this life…or treasure is in heaven.

Father Josiah Trenham gave an amazing reflection on forgiveness and loving one’s neighbor just recently that drives forgiveness home. Intitled HATRED, he reflects on how easy it is in this world to hate people rather than sin. We can certainly hate the harm someone does, for example, to little children or innocent people, but we should be careful that that hatred doesn’t carry over to the person committing the crime. After all, we’re all made in the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26-27, and nothing God creates is worthy of hate. Read the rest of this entry

CHAPTER FIVE—21^ST CENTURY

It’s funny how easy it was to fly from Las Vegas to Tucson in just a short two hours from my door to the limo—of course when you had money. No security, no ticketing, no hassles, I didn’t even have to leave my pistol behind. Since 9/11 air travel had really become a pain. I’d forgotten how much I liked traveling on a private plane.

“So where we headed Nigel”? I asked.

“About an hour’s drive sir,” he replied as the privacy screen rose between us, “Please help yourself to refreshments.”

I looked around the back seat and found the minibar stocked with wine, champagne, brandy, whisky, and scotch—an alcoholic’s dream come true.

“Fresh ice, these guys didn’t miss a beat,” I mumbled to myself. This limo had to be sitting at the terminal for at least three hours. Three hours in the desert and they still had fresh ice. Those executive terminal folks were great, and Staan was one class act.

Zeroing in on the bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label scotch I decided to forego the ice and go neat for my first taste of this very expensive liquor. Read the rest of this entry

CHAPTER FOUR—1^ST CENTURY

I worked my way toward the back of the crowd following Jesus toward the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. I slipped into the shadows. My mind was racing. What was I going to do? If Jesus isn’t turned over to the Sanhedrin tonight time could be altered. What would that mean for me? What would that mean for the rest of humanity? Christianity has made such an impact on world history this could change everything if Judas doesn’t betray Jesus.

“…but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Jesus’ words haunted me as I worked my way further into the darkness.

“Judas, why are you lagging behind”? Read the rest of this entry

CHAPTER THREE—21^ST CENTURY

For the past seven-plus years I’d been a professor of history at Nevada State University in Las Vegas. Specifically, a professor of history in Middle Eastern studies specializing in the Second Temple period and early Christian era, 516 BC-395 CE. In the military, I’d taken a shine to military history and spent a lot of time deployed reading about the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Persians. The foundation for much of our military tactics and strategies today.

As the saying goes, “There are no atheists in foxholes,” and I was no exception. I’d seen the inhumanity of man up close, personal, and with all its horror. Fortunately, in that time I’d met and fallen in love with a wonderful woman of faith who’d kept me grounded and sane. Anna was the best thing that had ever happened to me. It was she who, without encouragement, yet encouraged me to go back to school and pursue my bachelor’s, master’s, and eventually my Ph.D. in history.

After a 20-year career in the military, Anna and I had planned on retiring in Las Vegas where I would teach, and she could finally put down roots. Less than a year after I retired Anna was diagnosed with cancer and died a lingering, painful death a year later. Read the rest of this entry

CHAPTER TWO—21^ST CENTURY

I woke up with a start. It sounded like someone was ringing one of those hand-held bells teachers used to use to bring their kids back from recess.   I shook my head to clear my alcohol-induced funk. The bell rang again. My mouth tasted like I’d been grazing in a dumpster and my head was pounding. The last thing I remember was reading some article on a newly discovered set of ruins in Turkey while drinking a tall glass of Dewar’s scotch. How long ago was that? I squinted in a feeble attempt to focus in a totally black apartment I reached over and knocked over my reading lamp trying to find the light switch. Son of a… The bell rang again.

“All right, all right, I’m coming,” I yelled in the direction of the door.

I made it to the door, by memory, and peeked through the peephole where I saw a stork of a man, tall, lean, with arms that I swear touched the ground, and a long face to go with it. The chauffeur’s uniform added to the caricature, bus driver’s hat, and all.  Not believing what I was seeing I stepped back from the door, rubbed my eyes, and squinted back into the peephole. Nothing about the stork had changed. “Who is it,” I asked. After all, one can never be too cautious nowadays. Read the rest of this entry

Crossroad In Time is now live on its own page at:

Crossroad In Time – A Novel by Keith Shafer

Click on the link or go to the menu page for the first chapter of Crossroad In Time

He is Risen!

Today is the day that the West celebrates what can be described as the most auspicious event of human history. The resurrection from death of Jesus of Nazareth.

When my novel was forming in my head the notion of Jesus rising from the dead took center stage. As the church historian, Jaroslav Pelikan said near the end of his life, “If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – nothing else matters.” Professor Pelikan reposed in 2006, about three years after I began tackling my book. As you will see as I introduce new chapters from my novel everything our time traveler faces is about that quote—and that thought. Read the rest of this entry