Getting The Word Out

In the beginning was the Word. John 1:1.

Now good old John was speaking metaphorically about the Word being God. A really interesting analogy. Think about it, everything we do here as humans, all of our creations, begins with a thought, an idea. A word.

Even the idea of the Judeo-Christian God, did not really begin to take off and spread around the world until someone like John, sat down and wrote about the idea of God in his Gospel.

And here I am two millenia (thank you Petey) later, discussing his words. His creation.

But John had some help. The Roman emperor Constantine converted to Catholicism and appointed arbiters on the Council of Nicaea, who selected John’s words along with those of Matthew, Mark and Luke, to be one of the four gospels we all read about today. https://biblehistoryonline.com/blog/the-council-of-nicaea-and-the-formation-of-the-biblical-canon

John’s was the fourth and last gospel through the door.

For the record, I must mention that Thomas’s version of Jesus did not make that cut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Thomas Personally, I believe the Catholic religion would be far more interesting had it done so. But I mustn’t gripe.

So, these early writers in the biblical canon got the nod, thanks to the the influence of a powerful friend.

But then they got really lucky. A german inventor, Johannes Gutenberg, built a printing press and the first thing he printed was the Bible, old and new testament. John got the Word out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_Bible

Today, you can find John’s work in the drawers of every hotel room.

However, the impact of that printing press extended far beyond religion. It led to the concept: Das Werk der Bücher (“the work of the books”).

Suddenly, written work was available to the masses. With that, came the establishment and spread of literacy and the formal exchange of ideas. Education. Literature. From John’s gospel right down to the present day and The Claire Saga.

Now this ancient scenario provides an example of just how much luck, and devine provenance, goes into a writer getting a break, and seeing his work out there in the real world making an impact.

I had to sit down one early morning in my sixties, and start writing about the Bronx, a innocent kiss, a Junkie’s mule and my grandfather, Spaghetti and how it all led via the mafia to Claire the Mule and her band of mystical, magical, mischievous misfits.

I didn’t have Constantine, but I had the intercession of Reagan Rothe and his wise council of arbiters at BRW who decided that my first story, The Wise Ass, would make the cut.

I didn’t have Johannes Gutenberg to help me get the good word out there, but I did have Jeff Bezos and his invention, Amazon, to spread my words to the masses.

And if you read all five of the books in The Claire Saga, you’ll find that I have woven a religious thread through there, and covered the concepts of life, death, heaven, sacrifice and redemption.

Now, I’m sure John didn’t have a clue when he sat in his cloister while serving the Church in Ephesus, penning that parchment, that his work was going to be such a big hit. God bless him.

But I was raised in a BIC family that leaned heavily on the pseudo-religious maxim, “God helps those who help themselves.” (Thank you Algernon Sidney).

So, here I am, helping myself. Blogging as much as I can so that one or more of your fine, five readers get enough of a taste for my writing, my Word, to get out there and pick up copies of The Claire Saga.

God, if you are listening, feel free to pitch in.

You see, in just less than a month, I’ll be making the literary rounds both here in Berthoud and in the Bronx, and I pray that I have better luck than my gospellian namesake and that my work gets out there, like John’s, and spreads among the masses and I don’t end up reading to a room full of crickets.

So, enough preaching. It’s Saturday and I have menial tasks to attend to here at Casa Claire.

You fine, five readers do those weekend errands and then pick up a Good Book. Exchange those words and ideas. Expand your mind. Find your religion.

Me, I need to drop Lisa off for a per diem day at work, but first I’m going to cuddle some kitties and make my rounds.

But no matter what else we all get up to, let us make today a great one.