Joseph and the Grace of Forgiveness

The entire spring issue of Cultivating Oaks is devoted to the theme of grace. Published are stories by Lancia Smith, Malcolm Guite, Annie Nardone, Junius Johnson, Adam Nettesheim, Amy Malskeit, Steven Garber, Corey Latta, Tom Darin Liskey, Nicole Howe, Amelia Freidline, Lara D’Entremont, and several others. 

For me, reading a very familiar Bible story – the account of Joseph in the Book of Genesis – led me in an unexpected direction of grace. You can read the story, “Joseph and the Grace of Forgiveness,” at Cultivating Oaks Press. 

 

Photograph by Michael Olsen via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Finding Hope in a Cemetery

I walked into a John Constable landscape and found hope – in a cemetery.

 

A bit tired of seeing tourist sights on a recent vacation, my wife and I took a Saturday to explore Hampstead in north London. We’d been here in 2015 for a guided walk about the poet John Keats. Walk, perhaps, isn’t the right word. It was more of a brisk run up and down the hills of Hampstead.

 

One place I wanted to see during this visit was where our Keats Walk had started – St. John-at-Hampstead Church, also known as the “Keats Church,” even though it was the family of his love interest, Fannie Brawn, who were members. Keats himself never attended. The church does have, however, a bust of the poet. 

Unfortunately, the church was closed and locked for the day. A few people were walking by; a couple sat talking on a bench. Instead of leaving, we wandered around the churchyard and its cemetery. The original cemetery is adjacent to the church; a larger and newer extension is across the street.  

To continue reading, please see my post at Cultivating Oaks.

Christmas Oranges

I have a new short story, “Christmas Oranges,” published today at Cultivating Oaks. It’s based on a work-in-progress, tentatively entitled Brookhaven. You can read the story here; the entire Christmas issue can be accessed here.  

The story, like the work-in-progress, is historical fiction, set in 1863 to 1865 during the Civil War, the Reconstruction period, and 1915. It is loosely (very loosely) based upon events in my own family, although the characters are entirely fictitious.

 

Photograph by Leonardo de Assis via Unsplash. Used with permission.