Postscript to ALIVE
/God is Amazing!
Actually He is awesome, but I say amazing because I like the A and Z in the same word. Alpha and Omega.
This book has taken over nine years to write. I started in May of 2015 during the month after Pascha, and finished on Pentecost, June 23, 2024.
God brought together the writing of the last chapter. Knowing how little time I had to finish it between Ascension and Pentecost, He started early.
My precious new grandson, William, was born last October. The name William corresponds in Greek with Basil which is his baptismal name. So, I figured I would start reading St Basil.
I read three books, each has been brilliant; the most recent is Hexameron, the 6 days of creation. I have always been big on creation week; linking it to Holy Week is my favorite way to worship God with prostrations as the first act when I come into my chapel each morning. I link each day of Creation week with Holy Week because the coincidences are astounding. I imagine that God likes it that I noticed.
I finished Hexameron the day before Pentecost when I wanted to post the last Chapter. This book, more than all the theology books I have read, gave me a glimpse into the infinite intelligence of God. Worth reading. For the last chapter of ALIVE I included Saint Basil’s explanation of the soullessness of fish and the soulfulness, albeit the absence of reason, of terrestrials animals.
Also, I read the Bible in order from Genesis to Revelation. At this point I am in Esdras 2 because my New Oxford Annotated Bible contains the Apocrypha. The excerpt I read the day before was perfect and included, as it perfectly described our existence on earth and the transition to the next life. My husband and I are in a psalmist group that reads 2 Kathisma every evening, and we happened to be beginning again and so Psalm 1, which is also perfectly relevant is included.
The timing of those readings while preparing to write the chapter about Pentecost on the day before Pentecost showed me that the Lord orchestrated the grand finale of this epic book, ALIVE, in His inimitable and marvelous ways. He never ceases to amaze me.
Overall, writing ALIVE has allowed me to imagine the daily lives of the most important people who ever lived on this earth. The Bible needed to be extremely concise, so a lot of valuable information had to be omitted. ALIVE has given me, and I hope gives the reader too, deeper insights into these holy people. In particular, Noah, David, Joachim and Anna, and their daughter Mary felt so alive and close to me that I feel that I know them as intimately as I know my family and friends. I came to truly love them and look forward to meeting them some day.
Expanding the life of Jesus in the same way was frightening, but also extremely valuable in helping me to know and understand HIM better. He handled every situation brilliantly, but most of all I love His sense of humor and brashness.
The other astonishing coincidence, is that after all these years of writing before dawn and having amassed a plethora of stories, without any time to get them out into the world, the completion of this epic book coincides with my planning of retirement from the day job. After 50 years of work in the world. I will soon have the time to focus on God’s work. Opus Dei. Another holy coincidence!
Pentecost is the gift of eternal life. What can be better than having Wisdom and Life dwell within to protect, guide, and teach us. To experience Pentecost, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is to become immortal. ALIVE. How fitting to end…at the beginning.
Evangeline 2,024 Washington, D.C.