Why First Rose Needed to be Written

It has been my experience through the years as an ordained minister that people recoil from expressing what they think the "after life" may contain. Since the Bible has given only "the Ezekiel bones" of eternal life and its content, it is up to us who want to know to facilitate the flesh, sinew and body of it. The Holy Spirit is present in each believer's life to reveal "things to come" and "the kingdom of God" to seekers. Our thoughts, imaginations, wishes, hopes and dreams, as they are surrendered to the Lord, play an important part as vehicles through which God speaks to us.

The inspiration for First Rose came immediately after I had listened to a cd "Drinking With Horses". I had listened to it in the car and when I arrived on the back porch of my home, I sat down on the porch swing. The roses which draped the railings of the deck were in full bloom. I reached to pick my FIRST ROSE of spring. I held it close to smell its fragrance and when I looked into the fire of its red color, I distinctively heard a voice speak to me. From my own thoughts came clearly: "If the Creator put so much beauty into the making of this temporary rose, which is here only a short while, why wouldn't He make eternal things much more beautiful and magnificent." Although it was difficult to imagine anything more beautiful than a rose, I made an effort to begin imagining eternal life and some of the experiences we could have there. Of course, I was required to describe all that I imagined with my limited vocabulary but I proceeded to write them down. Those notes evolved into a book which was written within the period of four weeks.