WordPlay: New Christian Parables

Q: So how did Christian Parables come about?

A: Quite naturally since imagination, our core element, is an innate thrill for us all. How many boys dribble their basketball to a make-believe shot-clock to win the game? And how many girls even require tea at their tea party? Childhood's favorite nation is imagination: the "genesis" of intrinsic motivation which grows up right along with us. Soon that same invisible shot-clock will count down a career goal. And that empty tea cup quickly has real Starbucks coffee,with the same social setting. As for imagination itself, it matures into literature aging through bedtime stories, comic books, and mystery novels. My challenge was taking this natural crave to imagine, and blending it with The Good Book! Christian Parables activate the creative, right side of the brain. So this platform, synonymous with escape, now includes a biblical map for our current prodigal sons and daughters. Adding more Word to its words (John 1:1), and scriptures to its script, this graceful gospel-sharing technique came about.

Q: Do you have a favorite parable from Jesus?

A: Yes! I like the father who gave orders to his two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). One son said okay but didn't do it. The other son contested, "no," but later felt guilty and did it. Jesus then asks his audience, "Which one of them did the work of his father?"

I love this parable because it shows the artificial authority of guilt. It is spiritually parallel to God; it has nothing to do with righteousness! And a little more observation reveals even more parallel types of authorities with the audacity to use guilt like a whip. I suggested this though my parable of "The Ventriloquist."

Q: Your collection is certainly contemporary! You approached issues like Autism, bullying, and the new "golden calf (tradition)." Are their any parables or topics that you've passed on?

A: There are! Any parable which I can't support with scripture doesn't make it to the reader. I'm not a preacher or prophet worthy to insist. I am a writer. And I respect the perimeters of this role, fearing God even more so! Specific topics I avoid include the fruition of Revelation, calculated against today. In those areas, I almost mirror Paul as he separated his own thoughts from the Holy Spirit's.

Q: There's an ongoing friendly criticism you face from your supporters. And I kind of agree with them! With such much experience in character development, you rarely animate your own profile! Not much is known about you. Why is that?

A: Well, in the most creative of ways, it would be too redundant! Every character I create inherits a little something about me. Like Serrano, I interact through them my spirit, my mentality, and other angles of a reader's curiosity. And I think the proof of this is in the encore of Chapter 4, where we bring all these fictional stars (or pieces of me) together. To experience this is to know me fully.

Now obviously some characters have more of me than others. I will volunteer that one specific character, in one of the parables in this book, is a very substantial part of me. He or she is the very core essence of who I am. And the enveloping parable is literally the story of my life. Some have guessed correctly. Yet I remain too shy to confirm it. Yet even with the wrong guess, a reader is always right in some way.

Q: Give me your idea of a "happy ending" for Christian Parables.

A: I want to translate this book into a viral agenda. I want to add to the Lord's "mysterious ways" collection. I hope to mirror characters to an audience well enough for some to identify themselves. There truly are "blind architect's" out there. And people still pay and stay for "the ventriloquist" in real life. A quiet,respectful, revelation through fiction might motivate a real change in character! If you remember Nathan spoke to David in a parable,concerning Uriah. The message finally got through. And this was God's plan (II Samuel 2:12). Strategically, I want to be on and facilitate for that team.