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.

I, like all of us, am a product of my environment and as we move forward with Crossroad In Time you will notice similarities to things you may be familiar with. For instance, I have always been fascinated by the idea of time travel. My heroes include H.G. Wells, The Time Machine; Donald P. Bellisario, Quantum Leap; and Michael Crichton, Timeline.

I have also been a seeker when it comes to faith. I have fond memories of Vacation Bible School and attending the Methodist Church I was baptized in with my Grandmother Frances. As a young man I read Hal Lindsey, as did many of us of my generation; watched Jesus Christ Superstar, and Godspell.

In junior high school, I attended a Catholic school in Denver, Colorado for a time and was exposed to the papacy. My big takeaways from that experience were; nuns could be mean; NO WAY was I going to confession; and they were Leap Years ahead of public schools, at least my public schools, in mathematics.

In high school, I met a girl who attended a Lutheran church and ended up being confirmed as a member of Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation’s legacy.

Early on in what ended up as a military career I learned about Campus Crusade for Christ, attended Full Gospel Fellowships, African Methodist Churches, and even had a brush with Scientology. Oh did I mention that growing up in Las Vegas I’d been approached by Mormons and Witnesses, and had honestly looked into their faiths?

Interestingly, with all that, I ended up marrying a Jewish American Princess from Chicago and together we embarked on what has been a four-decade PLUS adventure.

So now you have a bit of background on where I’m coming from with Crossroad In Time. There’s a lot more I’ll share with you in the future, but for now, I just want to mention a couple of notes about my last post.

  1. This was my first of what would be multiple runs of my first chapter
  2. My final version of Chapter One will be published on my website, KeithShafer.com on Pascha at the stroke of midnight, 2 May 2021
  3. I can’t, and won’t, say what translation of the Old or New Testaments I have used. I literally use the one that gets my idea across.

Next Sunday I’ll post a bit more about the original chapter of Crossroad In Time. Until then for all my Western family and friends:

He is Risen—Truly He is Risen!

 

Get Free Email Updates!

Signup now and receive an email once I publish new content.

I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )

I will never give away, trade or sell your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Filed under: Crossroad In Time • Writing

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!