---------There I was, standing at the edge of the dark woods, and glancing up at the gigantic, almost foreboding fortress on a small mountaintop. I looked at how vast it appeared from my lowly point of view, but I knew I had to stay my course and move on. The fortress as my destination was still better than the alternative...nothing but darkness in my wake. As a matter of fact, darkness was all around, and it seemed like it had been there for the longest time. No matter where I looked, I saw dark, mysterious shapes; potential trouble that could exist in any form. I had fought my way past monsters, escaped marauders, and outran the most wicked, but I knew I couldn't continue at this pace. I needed somewhere I could find some solace.

So when I came out of the thorns and thickets, and the dank moist cover of the hideous and rotting tree branches, despite the immense path and course that lay before me going up to that fortress - I still saw light. That light was the only thing I can imagine that could beckon me forward at the time. From a journey fraught with peril, light had to be better than the darkness. I used my sword given me from my Lord to cut down the rest of the underbrush that hindered me. The Lord's Armor and shield had protected me from possible severe injury along the way...and my helmet was perhaps the only thing that kept me alive from the previous creatures of the night that had tried to set upon me earlier in my quest. I trudged along, carrying the weight and burden of both heavy limbs and heavy armor. My pace had slowed even though I knew I was bound to be overtaken by the evil that lurked - yet I could still see the light. After some struggling and heavy breathing, I made it to the foot of the short path up to the drawbridge of the great fortress. Even though the bridge began to lower, I swear I could feel the darkness closing in. By the time the bridge was all the way down, I had reached the point to cross, but I fell on my knees. Whatever had been chasing me I just knew was ready to pounce, but then I looked towards the source of that bright light that I had seen in the distance. There before me was My Lord. He beckoned me to come forward, and I couldn't help but want to look over my shoulder to check on the darkness that had been so ready to overtake me. But The Lord said COME, and drove the evil away. The Lord said again, COME! - and so it was His voice that finally moved me; His voice to which I finally chose to listen; His voice - that called me home. And once I entered His home, in which He had always told me I was welcome...at last I could find...PEACE.----------

Now picture me sitting there daydreaming in church, right after our discipleship pastor had made an altar call. Don't worry; I got the whole sermon about Solomon, and wisdom, and how even the wisest man to have ever lived (besides Jesus as a man) chose unwisely and did not always follow God. But after listening to such wisdom, because I have been so busy trying to improve my new life's work as a writer, I began to think how I could use imagery to help me realize what I really want readers of that work to get out of my writing. So I thought of the short story above; I mean I could actually picture it happening in my mind's eye. The Fortress in the vision of course represents God. God tells us time and time again to fear Him in the Bible. But He still wants us to come to Him. The darkness in the story represents the evil around us in the actual real world we live in - everything "under the sun", to quote our pastor Chad earlier today. I made the darkness and evil in the story ambiguous, because that darkness could be anything for anyone out there who may read my books one day; their darkness could be drugs; it could be violence; it could be their own anger; it could be discrimination; you name it - their darkness can make them feel overwhelmed, as my character narrating. Of course the light, and The Lord at the drawbridge was Jesus, calling forth the knight to come into His kingdom...a kingdom that the Lord had been telling the knight about in previous encounters his whole life.

And who was the knight? Why, the knight represents me. But not just me...he is also a symbol for my writings. Anyone who reads the short story above, they follow the knight, and the whole way, that knight is leading the reader to a place. I imagine my books, and even some blog posts (besides the goofy rants) as something that can point people to that light that shines out, no matter how much darkness is about. If you have ever had the inkling to write, and you think what you write can influence others to also become aware of Jesus as that light...don't hesitate. Join me, and others, on that knight's journey through the dark world...just being persistent and constantly getting closer - to the light of Jesus.