Conversations With The Author
Welcome to the Choices and Challenges blog where you can communicate directly with me Alan Greer. Fell free to post your topics on anything related to your thoughts and themes, or any questions about the book! Thank you. - Alan Greer
This book is great and explores very important topics and questions realted to the choices we face in our individual lives which essentially make us who we are. A Must read!!!!
ReplyDelete-Erik Blanco
Alan, as a Christian and a writer, and educated mostly at a small New England Christian college, reading the scriptures has been a vital part of my daily life for many years. Also, for whatever reason, i have lived among and worked with and been involved with Jews all my adult life, and have always noticed what you speak of at the opening of chapter 3 as you say...prejudice against Jews has been universal wherever they have lived...and wondered why. Now, no one has ever accused me of being too bright, and i am well aware of the foibles possible or created by arguing for something as big as this aspect of the Jewish experience - the fact of universal prejudice around the world - but a couple years ago two scriptures jumped out at me and i feel compelled to proclaim (at least to myself) that they may offer an answer at least in part, of why this phenomenon continues to this day.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at Jeremiah 23:40 and 24:9, it seems pretty clear that God is stating that this is the way it's going to be - (until Christ returns in the clouds with power and great glory and the hosts of Heaven to establish His Kingdom for a thousand years. Embellishment is mine, one of my favorite passages, and of course not actually part of Jeremiah). This, of course, as a result of His people's behavior - the idolatry and treatment of the poor - just as in Isaiah's complaints and to me God seems to be saying, "Enough is enough."
Then, if you go to the sublime passages in Isaiah 25:6ff, and especially verse 8, He again acknowledges that reproach, but says now it will finally be taken away...forever!
i'm just into chapter 3 now and have tried both the publisher and googled you and sent emails about how to get in touch with you, but got no response (Never occurred to me to look in the back of the book! Duh!). So, now that i've gotten a hold of you and opened this dialogue, let me know what you think about this thought. i am not a Jew, except in Spirit, and really have actually suffered great sadness many times over my life seeing this prejudice in the news or in film or in person! (i grew up in a town in Connecticut that tried not to allow Jews to buy property there - unwritten rule - and mostly they were successful in doing just that. But, as i'm sure you are aware, one of the real gifts of God to some writers is their endless fascination with observing people interacting with each other, individually or in concert, intellectually or even as a mob.
i will write again when i finish the book. i intend to buy copies to distribute to select members of churches here in the North Shore area and to pass the word on. i'm very glad you wrote this book. If you've a mind to, i have a novel out there (out of print but copies still available on Amazon). Or you can read a bit of it on Google Book Search.
My website: www.dougbuchs.com and my blog is: www.LWLTL.com. Feel free to reply to this post on my blog if you like. Also, i think you'd be uplifted by page 2 of the blog which is my interpretation of The Lord's Prayer.
In closing, i'm glad you're out there, Alan. Shalom....Doug Buchs
P.S. When you were at Annapolis (This is a long shot, i know), did you know a cadet named Jay Green? Very fast runner - New England champ in the 220yd sprint at 23.0 flat! Just wondering