by Murray Pura
Lyndel would wear her ring again for a few minutes and turn Nathaniel’s over in her hand in the lamplight. She would pray. She would thank God for all that had been, the hardships as well as the times of joy. She would remember that Moses’ mother and father had worn the rings and defied the chains of men with their love.
Then in the quiet of her home she would speak softly the words from Galatians that Nathaniel had freely translated from Martin Luther’s German, trying to get, he told her, not just the phrasing but the depth, the emotion, the force. It was these words they had spoken over Charlie’s grave the day the war had ended, a soft rain on her shoulders and the shoulders of Nathaniel, Levi, Ham, and Joshua, the sun just beginning to make its way through the high pillars of cloud.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Stand, I say, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. It is for this freedom that Christ has died. Do not lose it. Do not spurn it. Hold it to you, body and soul. For it is the gift of God to you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Forever.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Historical fiction stands on two feet—the historical is about what was and the fiction is about what might have been. In order for what might have been to work well and tell a good story, what was must be as accurate and authentic as possible. For this I am grateful to my terrific editor at Harvest House, Nick Harrison, for his advice, insight, and support. I also wish to extend my thanks to those American Civil War scholars, living and dead, whose research has helped me to make The Face of Heaven as realistic and true-to-life as possible: Bruce Catton, Craig L. Dunn, Ernest B. Ferguson, Shelby Foote, Alan D. Gaff, Gary W. Gallagher, Warren W. Hassler Jr., Lance J. Herdegen, James O. Lehman, James M. McPherson, Mark E. Neely Jr., Alan T. Nolan, Steven M. Nolt, Stephen B. Oates, Stephen W. Sears, John Selby, Brooks D. Simpson, and Noah Andre Trudeau. I am also grateful for the published letters, journals, and diaries of the soldiers, surgeons, and nurses who lived and often died during that conflict. Requiescat in pace.
ABOUT MURRAY PURA…
Murray Pura earned his Master of Divinity degree from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and his ThM degree in theology and interdisciplinary studies from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. For more than twenty-five years, in addition to his writing, he has pastored churches in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Alberta. Murray’s writings have been short-listed for the Dartmouth Book Award, the John Spencer Hill Literary Award, the Paraclete Fiction Award, and Toronto’s Kobzar Literary Award. Murray pastors and writes in southern Alberta near the Rocky Mountains. He and his wife, Linda, have a son and a daughter.
Visit Murray’s website at www.murraypura.com.
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