Author's note on
Pressure
Point, below.
Fruit and Consequences was first published
by GateWay S-F Magazine (in its print format, v 1 #3) and subsequently published by
The Mythic Circle; it is posted here for your
reading pleasure.
The concept came out of a conversation with SF author and friend
Tim Powers
(speaking of Tim:
my blog,
another mention and also a fun
Wikipedia article on him. He was also the Author Guest
of Honor at
Mythcon in 2010, too.) in which we were
speculating on the origins of the human species and Tim suggested that God may have used evolution, looked down at these furry
little mammals and, at a certain point, said, "Now, you have a soul," whereas I am more of an apologist for the first three
chapters of Genesis. I was struck, however, by the thought that perhaps Adam & Eve knew they were naked because their fur
fell off (
!!! - yes, it's funny).
So I set off to write a short story incorporating that notion and was a bit surprised when it became a very meditative process
and I found myself connecting rather personally with Eve. My self-imposed limitations required that I not deviate from the first
three chapters of
Genesis;
thus I could expand and make extrapolations, but not change the basic outline provided by the Bible.
I've just added
Pressure Point, a nativity story
written for the Niños Christmas 2011 book.
The Niños are the
small creative-support prayer group of which I am very blessed to be a part.
Eden was not entirely unlike the images made popular by Bible stories - it was kept lush and green by a mist which wafted gently up from the ground with the evening and morning temperature change. There were many animals and birds, living harmoniously in close proximity with an innate and uncanny, at least to our way of thinking, ability to understand and accommodate each other. There were no carnivores, or rather those animals we've come to know as carnivores were not as yet carnivorous: the lion lay down with the lamb and both ate herbs.
...read the rest.
Pressure Point
© Lynn Maudlin, 2011 all rights reserved
It was a long, slow build which started with an uneasy sense of vacancy— Mary hardly noticed but, really, how could she? Her internal landscape had been drastically altered since the angelic visitation, followed shortly thereafter by her escape to cousin Elizabeth and Zacharias. She had expected to process in solitude but was instead met by Elizabeth's exalted greeting and the whooshing infilling Presence once again, words spoken by her lips and seared into her brain, but at whose prompting? Slowly she grew, watching Elizabeth grow ahead of her, waddling, belly-supporting, moving with deliberate care - and the atmosphere grew around her as a curious pressure.
...read the rest.
Author's note: I hope folks won't freakout because of the powerful birth-of-Jesus drawing I inserted
toward the end of the piece. Both of the drawings I used were made by
Doug TenNapel, a graphic
novelist, screenwriter, game designer, committed Christian, husband of one and father of four. So I figure he
draws with some knowledge of the reality of birth.
Personally, I
love this image (and I'm very pleased Doug
gave me permission to use it) because it
is shocking; it brings home the staggering reality of the Incarnation: God
took on human flesh and dwelt among us. We have so many ways of saying it and we've heard them so often that
we've forgotten how entirely unthinkable it is: the King of the Universe, the Creator of
all, is willing
to identify with us so profoundly that He took on the 'meat' of humanity, blood and sweat and pain and tears,
finally torn, broken, and dead upon a wooden Roman cross. Of course that's not where His story ends: there's a
glorious morning three days later....
