Smelling Roses: A Tale of Connection and Transformation - Softcover

Dean, Claudette

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1504399390 ISBN 13: 9781504399395

Verlag: BalboaPress, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Charles Montgomery is an unlikely hero. An eleven year old identical twin, he is torn from his God-fearing family, and institutionalized for his strange pronouncements. On the eve of his eighteenth birthday, he mysteriously disappears, only to return a decade later, transformed. The heros journey traverses the religious, psychiatry-obsessed 1950s, into the turbulent, revolutionary sixties. It is meshed within a tapestry of human connections interwoven with dark threads of addiction, abuse, and mental illness, and woven with golden threads of compassion, forgiveness, and gratitude. Implied in the title is a scent of mysticism. Sprinkled with serendipity, and interspersed with lucid dreams, the story hints at unseen forces at play in everyday life, and glows with channeled messages of universal truths illuminating its pages.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Visual artist, Claudette Dean, now adds fiction to her palette of creative endeavors. From her birthplace in Blind River, Canada, to her home in Freeport, Bahamas, Claudettes journey has been rich with change and full with surprise. Spilling out intuitively from a writers club prompt into a full-blown novel, Smelling Roses is another unexpected gift. For more about Claudette Dean and her work, please visit claudettedean.com.

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Smelling Roses

A Tale of Connection and Transformation

By Claudette Dean

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2018 Claudette Dean
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9939-5

CHAPTER 1

"Good morning, students. As all of you know, this will be our last religious studies class before you leave later today for Christmas vacation."

The spontaneous cheers erupting from the back of the classroom are quickly stifled as the teacher eyes the obvious culprits. Sister Ann picks up where she left off and continues her walk around the seventh grade classroom while handing out sheets of colored construction paper.

"As your assignment, I have something a little different in mind. I'm asking each of you to write something you know for sure is true."

Interrupted once again, this time by muffled whispers and giggles, she stops and casts an ominous look around her classroom. "Be warned that this is a religious studies assignment. I remind all of you of the inspiration to be found in your catechism."

After waiting a few seconds for complete silence, she continues with her instructions.

"At the end of the day, each of you will have to share what you have written with the rest of the class. Over Christmas break, I shall select twelve statements and pair each one with an appropriate apostle. I will then display them around the classroom as monthly inspirations for the New Year." She cups her right ear. "And what year will that be?"

"1953!" chants the class in unison. The giddy anticipation of Christmas vacation is evident in their voices.

It's going to be a long day, thinks Sister Ann as she continues her stroll up and down the aisles.

"And don't be afraid to be creative with your presentation," she adds. "It will be factored in when I make my final selection."

In the classroom, the desks are arranged two by two, with one girl and one boy at each. Rena Kapoor sits next to Charles Montgomery.

Rena is surprised to note that Charles, who is always a bit of a daydreamer, has straightened up in his seat and begun working almost as soon as he received his two sheets of construction paper.

She focuses in on the assignment and puts on her thinking cap. I know for sure I'm happy I don't have to go to school for the next two weeks, but I don't think Sister will find that very inspirational.

Having been exposed to other types of spirituality by way of her heritage, Rena has always been intrigued with the symbolism embedded in various religions. In her mind, she shuffles through the Catholic symbolism file, stopping at the sign of the cross.

I'm certain the sign of the cross represents the three aspects of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Sister Ann will like it for sure.

After carefully transcribing her quote into the shape of a cross on her pink construction paper, she attempts to peek at what Charles has come up with. She catches him glancing sideways at her sheet. He turns and with vacant eyes stares directly at her. It catches her off guard, but what comes out of his mouth is even more surprising.

"In the light of expanded consciousness, we offer the following insight: It is a certainty that God is in you and all around you. You are to God as a single drop is to the ocean, and you are the entire ocean in a single drop."

Although Charles is known to be peculiar at times, he now looks and sounds possessed.

"Charles!" she whispers harshly, elbowing him on his right side.

"All is in divine order. And so it is," concludes Charles.

After rubbing his eyes as if he were just waking up, he seems oblivious to the fact Rena has just elbowed him.

She stares as he picks up a pencil crayon to start writing. Surprise and confusion are written all over his face when he sees something already formulated on his sheet. He reads it under his breath. "It is a certainty that God is in ... Did you do this?" he asks, turning sharply to Rena.

"Yeah, right," she replies with a smirk on her face.

"I bet you did." He searches her eyes.

She nervously indicates the teacher is coming back down their aisle.

On the sheet in front of him, Charles admires the quote placed inside a perfectly shaped water droplet. "It's beautiful," he mumbles.

"It is, but unless you can show Sister where it's written in the catechism," Rena says as she motions again to warn of the teacher's proximity, "I'd tear it up fast." Refocusing her attention, she picks up her light-blue pencil crayon and gets busy coloring in the negative space around the cross she has formed with her words.

"What a shame," mumbles Charles before he shreds the sheet into tiny pieces.

He pulls out a second yellow one and, after a few short moments, begins writing as neatly as he possibly can. I know for sure the Holy Trinity represents God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He thinks it very clever when he dots each i with a tiny cross in a contrasting color.

Behind them, the teacher has stopped to admire Amanda Campbell's creation. Charles takes the opportunity to show off his handiwork and discretely gives Rena a nudge.

She can't believe her eyes. "You'd better stop messing around, Charles! You know that's way too close to what I wrote."

"Girls. You can never figure them out," he mumbles. "I don't even know what she wrote."

Rena doesn't quite know what to make of Charles's behavior, but she knows she will be the one accused of copying, not him. She manages to tear up her sheet just as Sister Ann's robes swish by her desk. The teacher nods and smiles at Charles, obviously pleased with what she sees on his sheet.

Phew! That was close, thinks Rena. God is in you and all around you. Hum!

She has no idea where Charles got them from, but his words have stirred something in her. She pulls out her second pink sheet, throws caution to the wind, and begins transcribing her new quote.

The rest of the day drags by until last period finally rolls around, and Sister makes an announcement.

"It's time now for each of you to stand and read the quote you were asked to write in religious studies class this morning. When you are finished reading, please rest your sheets on my desk in two piles, one for girls and one for boys."

When it appears that all of the students are settled and ready with their sheets on their desktop, she nods to Tommy Burke to stand. As the class clown, he has the choice spot up front near her desk.

Trying not to giggle, he shares his quote. "I know for sure boys are more important than girls because God sent a son down to earth at Christmas, not a daughter."

He holds his paper up for everyone to see. At the end of the quote, he has drawn a stick figure boy with a halo, and next to him is a stick figure girl with an X over her. Some of the boys clap and cheer while the girls roll their eyes and some stick out their tongues.

In the middle of the clamor, and before Sister Ann can bring order to the classroom, Charles gets up out of his seat. He has such a presence about him that the room goes instantly quiet. His vacant expression wipes the grin right off Tommy's face. In the same mature voice Rena first heard earlier that day, Charles speaks.

"Energy is energy. On the earth plane, which is dualistic in nature, energy is distinguished as either masculine or feminine. Although each serves different purposes, both are of equal value. In reference to your statement, the feminine is indeed represented as an equal aspect of God, by what your doctrine refers to as the Holy...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: BalboaPress
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1504399390
• ISBN 13: 9781504399395
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 232
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: GPSR Kontakt; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland