22nd September

Well today I felt well enough to move from my campsite and so drove into Deal for a few hours. And the sun came out as I walked along the sea-front to find ‘my’ seat on the end of the pier. I sat there for quite a while thinking, praying and then reading my Kindle… nothing very intellectual, just some good old fashioned science fiction, but nicely escapist which is what I need right now.  There’s loads of free stuff available for download by unknown authors trying to tempt you into buying more of their work, which I’m happy to do if they’re any good. One day when I’m feeling stronger I may even have a go at writing a novel myself. Perhaps some sort of near future ‘fantasy’, a story of a world about to end, a world of demons and angels; of a global darkness seeking to destroy the latent goodness that’s inherent in all mankind by feeding the lust that so easily persuades. And at just the right moment, when all seems lost and the whole world is seemingly controlled by pure evil, the power of goodness, carried as a bright flame of hope by a saintly people, arrives to conquer and banish every shadow of darkness to a pit of hell. But only for a season, as after the world is rebuilt and remodelled in the likeness of perfection the dark forces are released from their captivity to wreak havoc once more… but not for long.

Oh well, I guess it’s been done before, maybe as a best-seller, maybe as the greatest and best-selling book the world has ever known. But it might be fun to flesh things out a bit with 21^st century technology and I could create heroic characters bravely taking their stand against wrong doing and injustice. There’ll be widespread famine and poverty of course so help will be needed there, and the corruption of government and business will need some sort of attention. Not to mention the perversion of mass media encouraging a twisted morality of many. Maybe the children need a change in the way they’re educated and something really ought to be done to help marriages to work a bit better. Wouldn’t it be good to see an end to all war? There’s certainly a lot to think about.

But how to start writing such a story? I suppose I have to do a little background research, maybe in some small way start by being a hero to one needy person. Then another, and then another and then who knows where I might end up. And it goes without saying that I have to start carrying a beacon of hope around as well as living like a saint… there’s a challenge! Perhaps my novel would end up in the non-fiction section… if I ever find time to write it.

Revelation 20:1-3 ‘Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.’ (NLT)