The First Jewel of Earth
The Search for Wisdom (Part Two)
by
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Chapter 24 He stopped the narration and took a long draw from his coffee cup, watching his audience over the rim. Blank faces, a few puzzled looks, a grimace or two, and a few intrigued glances. They had made it through Part One and now this crowd was continuing their search for Wisdom in Part Two. Did they realize the entire story was about them? True, no one picks up a strange new book thinking that it will be autobiographical. Surely, you would have some input into your own autobiography! “So, is any of this story true?” asked a more confident listener in the front row. “One basic premise of the entire Jewel series is that we are all travelers, whether we like it or not, whether we listen for the leading of the jewels or not, whether we acknowledge the King or not,” began the Traveler smiling, setting his coffee cup aside. “We all travel forward through time, from cradle to grave, choosing our own course as best we can, given the circumstances of our life. No two people are the same, no two journeys alike, yet there are similarities in traveling and lessons to be learned. Is any of this true?” Here, the Traveler hesitated, aware that he was exposing his own vulnerability with an honest answer, but then he had no choice. Honesty was required! “Yes, my friend, it is all true, if you will hear it.” There was a low rumble through the crowd. Clearly, this book was a fictional account of traveling through time on a quest for the King. No one could actually leave their own timeline and wander about the past. Could they? At most, it was a long and detailed metaphor used to explore the author’s theses about faith and traveling. Only generally true, and only if you accepted the author’s arguments. “Are you claiming that your Traveler is a real person having these…adventures?” “Just for a moment, suspend your natural cynicism,” begged the author, “and allow yourself to travel with the protagonist in this book. The lessons he learns, the wisdom he gathers, are the same lessons and the same wisdom that you would be likely to collect on this journey.” “I ain’t seen no centaurs lately, buddy,” said a man with crossed arms in the back. “Oh, I believe you have, but you have not been wearing the pendant in this century,” argued the Traveler confidently, waving the book in the antagonist’s direction. “Do you know people who gladly trade away their essential humanity for a few fleeting moments of fame, power, stardom, or notoriety? The rock star, the internet or social media sensation, the photogenic politician, the unprincipled military commander or the street gang dictator, the glamorous televangelist! A few minutes of power in this life at the expense of their integrity, humility and morality. They may not have hooves and a tail, but they have the self-centered attitude, the arrogance, and the quest for attention.” “And elves? And trolls?” complained another critic. “These allegories have no place in a thoughtful, religious treatise.” “You mean like calling religious leaders of the day ‘a brood of vipers’ or ‘a white-washed sepulcher?’” responded the Traveler. “‘Hidden reefs, waterless clouds, autumn trees without fruit?’ There are two kinds of people in this world—those who will listen and those who won’t.” “Listen to you?” shouted one angry man heading for the door. “No, I am just a seer, a traveler, and the teller of the tale,” admitted the author. “I have done my job, however imperfectly, and the Series is written. How it is received, how the Holy Spirit uses it to talk with you along life’s way, that is all another story, your story. You will decide who you will be listening to! But I assure you, you will be listening to somebody.” “So, you do believe in angels and demons?” whispered a timid voice in the front row. “Angels and demons, yes, but not limited to the medieval bestiary that immediately comes to mind. Their ‘presentation’ has changed over time. Now the demons wear business suits and uniforms, gang colors and ‘bling’. The angels walk among us, performing their timeless and loving work behind the scenes. The writer of the Book of Hebrews even admonished hospitality toward strangers for “some have entertained angels without knowing it.” It is still true.” “That is all so much old religious ideation,” denied a well-dressed woman in a business suit. “Modernly, we do not need personifications of good and evil. It is all a matter of good morals, sound teaching and a socially relevant gospel.” “Is it?” The author sighed. “Then you have a problem. For you see, both angels and demons are mentioned specifically in John’s Revelation, prophecies yet to come to fruition in our time. So, either the apostle John is entirely wrong about his vision or you are!” “Expecting to see dragons?” asked another cynical point of view. “Dragons, and supernatural events, and marvelous miracles,” confirmed the author confidently. “It is all part of his story, my story, your story. You must pursue Wisdom with a single-minded dedication. God requires it! “Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.” The Psalmist saw it as a gift, available to all of us.” “I thought this story was all just for fun,” admitted a disappointed younger reader. “Hopefully, it is still fun,” agreed the author, “but a parable is a common story that everyone can relate to with a moral purpose. Jesus told several parables about a shepherd and his flock. It is a very pastoral and affirming metaphor because we can all relate to the love and devotion of the shepherd, and the profound neediness of the sheep. He is not recommending that we become sheep, only that we apply the lessons to our own life. That process can be loving…illuminating…fun!” The Traveler smiled thoughtfully, recalling many lessons learned along the way in his own traveling, but that was for much later with this particular flock. They were still pursuing the first jewel. “Can we keep traveling?” “Most certainly,” confirmed the Traveler. Picking up the second half of this story, he thumbed through the first few pages. “Now, where were we? The Traveler had confronted Osidon, god of the underworld in the River Kingdom, and grievously wounded Mendes, the ram-headed god of the northern kingdom.” “Mendes is not dead?” asked another reader. “One does not ‘kill’ immortals,” explained the Traveler. “Their future rests with the King, but human travelers are not left defenseless against this supernatural opposition.” “And the Traveler has allies!” “Yes, Yad’el and Latris, his devoted companions.” “These are the angels and demons you are talking about,” asked the skeptic in the crowd. “Why be so coy with the descriptions?” The Traveler chewed his lip in consternation and considered his next answer carefully. This was the decision point, the crossroads for each traveler, whether to continue in the metaphor or walk away. “If this were a church service, or a class in Biblical scholarship, or an exegesis of the Word, then there would be no place for ‘coy’ storytelling. As I said before, there are those who will listen and those will not. Some will rely on their own preconceptions, the doctrines of their faith, their own knowledge and training to close out the truth of this traveling. They will not listen. They will want to quibble about names and places, about identities and descriptions, about historical anomalies, and denominational interpretations. But it is not a church service, a Bible study, or a history lesson, although it easily could be any of them.
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About the Book
At the turn of the century, a promising and largely unknown future awaited this traveler. But was it the Twenty-first century, the First century, or some other mysterious milestone? You were there, also traveling, even though you may have been only partially aware of it. For you see, my friend, we all travel, sometimes together, but more often alone. We learn from our own experiences, sometimes lessons taught by others, and then there is the perpetual quest for wisdom. Some lessons are joyous and positive, others are tragic and debilitating, while so many others are tedious and repetitious. We treasure the seemingly ‘good’ lessons and regret the ‘bad’ ones, yet they all contribute to our promising and unknown future, shaping who we are and where we are going. Is it possible to believe that “all things could work together for good”? All things? Even the bad things? Join us in the traveling. Let’s find out! This book is Part Two of the Traveler’s ongoing search for Wisdom, a rare jewel that is an integral component to a mystical pendant given to him by the King of another reality. His quest is for the First Jewel of Earth. First published in 1999, this new edition has been revised, re-edited, and refreshed with new chapters. While it would be a more complete journey having read Part One first, this second part stands alone and you will quickly find yourself traveling with him. But be warned, you will not return to the way it once was!
About the Author
Even as a boy, your author has always had trouble staying fixed at one moment in time. While an overly active imagination is charming in a young child, a mature adult should behave better. Your author’s interests flow easily from one topic to another…past, present, and future. Fascination with the scientific method, the reality of faith, and a study of the law leads smoothly into the imagination of science fiction. A love of History and human culture compete with a sense of the mystical and the magical. His friends and family will be overjoyed about the re-publishing of this book; now, someone else can listen to his flights of fancy! A traveler at heart, your author is comfortable at home or on the road, in foreign countries or in a local coffee shop. A college graduate, an Army officer, an orator and Christian church leader, a college professor, a licensed attorney, and a prolific writer! And he loves computer-generated games! When some grounding in this reality is required, he is a private practice attorney in Grand Junction, Colorado. His wife, Mary, has traveled with him for more than forty-six years, and their son, Christopher, is married, has given us a wonderful daughter-in-law and three marvelous grandchildren, and a grand-dog. “If we begin with the premise that there is a design to this universe,” says the author, “the truth of its construction is just waiting to be discovered. Life is a journey of discovery, and we are all travelers. I hope you can see yourself in the pages of this book. It was written with you in mind!”