Dear Reader, I’m hereby announcing a delay on the publication of the sequel to the namesake of this blog, The Hardness of the Heart.
What is taking me so long?
One reason is that it is painful work walking barefoot across the strewn rubble and glass created by the shattering of the WCG. Yet this is needed in writing this volume, which I hope will appeal to anyone who views organized religion as generally hollow and corrupt. Disagree with this assessment? Give a listen to what retired episcipal Bishop, John Shelby Spong, has to say in this interview on youtube.
And as I slog through revision upon revision, seeking to create a book which will adequately address the specific theological questions of interest to some, while writing a story compelling enough to interest the hordes whose questions are less well defined, I have found myself repeatedly asking why? Why do I torture myself in this way? Why do I continue to put my thoughts and ideas forward, when skeptics and haters so frequently misunderstand, and even attack?
As one early reviewer put it, this author is on a relentless search for the truth. I’ve found that the more I knock, the more I seek, and the more openly and publicly I raise the questions, the more clear and profound the answers become. Even if others aren’t seeing things the way I am, or are not obtaining answers at the same time I am.
Layla and Majnu
And what would a People of the Sign post be without a musical reference? Have you ever wondered how Eric Clapton chose the name “Layla” for his signature song? The name comes from the story of Layla and Majnun. This enduring legend has inspired middle eastern poets and mystics throughout the ages. It is the timeless story of a love so strong and so deep that it drives the lover to madness. He loses all in a desperate search for the beloved.
For me this story took on a new significance when I realized that I, like Majnun, was searching in the dust for my beloved. My beloved was God. And the rubble of the WCG was the dust. That and the long ago disintegrated manuscripts of what I considered the Word of God.
In a world full of error, lies and confusion, the search for truth can be like that. And yet it’s not a search I’m willing to give up. I hope you’ll join me in this madness.
