Introduction

My book at last!

In Covid Lockdown of 2020, I began two massive projects.

One was to produce one music video per day, for the duration of Lockdown

(see LOCKDOWN LEGACY)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist...

The other was to write a book of how I came to faith. Had it not been for that period of enforced isolation, these two projects would not have seen the light of day.

My book began by way of my suggestion to our vicar, that it would be good to invite certain members of our church to produce a short video that could be shown on 'Zoom', (i.e. a video link), as to how they came to faith. I reasoned that this might encourage those who felt lonely, and isolated from church fellowship, during Lockdown. It would also bring them into the presence of God as lived out through the lives of fellow members of the congregation. 

So, I started to write my faith story out, just in case I was invited to be one of the contributors. 

Turns out I wasn’t invited to do so, but once I had taken those first few steps of returning to my Sunday School days, as a young child in Howdon, Willington Quay in the early fifties, I became a ‘Forrest Gump’ who couldn’t stop running, (in my case writing!)

I found it so therapeutic, each day, to reflect, not only on my faith, but my entire life.

In time it grew into a huge 150,000+ word document, far too large to be a published book, but I thought it would be a super document to hand on to my family one day, because they would be able to see just how important my faith is to me, and why I believe so fervently, in God.

It was then, that someone suggested to me, ‘Why not condense your story, concentrate on the faith part, and make it more accessible, because people don’t read books this size?”

Taking their advice, I began the enormous task of chipping away at my recollections, trying to draw out the ‘faith parts’ within it, and I kept failing time and again, and starting over. It became a burden, a dark cloud hanging over me, ever present, and never coming to completion.

I suddenly realised, when I sat listening to a sermon by Bishop John Pritchard, on Romans 8.31-39, that I had set myself an impossible task, for to separate my faith from my life, was akin to separating the warp from the weft of a finished piece of weaving! 

I shared this thought with him after the service.

For to me, God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, seems to be on every single page, for He has been my constant Provider, my Comforter, my Counsellor, my Guide and my closest Friend.

Later that very same day I experienced an amazing coincidence.

 I was looking up poems by Kate Compston for a completely different project, and as I opened one website called ‘Green Christian’, the first poem I saw by Kate was entitled:- ‘Weaver God’!  It began:

Weaver-God, Creator, sets life on the loom,
draws out threads of colour from primordial gloom.
Wise in designing, in the weaving deft:
love and justice joined – the fabric’s warp and weft.

Isn’t that amazing, after my revelation that morning?

It seemed to me that God was giving my original book project the go-ahead!

So now it's goodbye to that book within the book, and I’m now going to print the original one!

I aim to check out one chapter every day, and write it here on my website, and also my Facebook, with clear titles, so readers can just dip in to the parts that they find interesting or relevant to them, without necessarily having to read the whole book.

Now that I’ve made this decision, the burden has been lifted from me, I start today and then I can get on with my life, I’ve got so many other things to do, God willing.

So here is my book, as it was originally, and ever more shall be!

                    ******************************