Maybe I’m naive to think that the people I meet are sincere. Oh, I expect the salesperson has studied techniques to convince me I want to buy. I know better than to accept a political attack ad at face value. I imagine the criminal’s tears of regret might sometimes be more a regret that he got caught than because he hurt his victim.
But it couldn’t hurt to believe the salesperson really thinks I could use her product. It’s possible, even probable, that there’s an element of truth buried somewhere in the attack ad. And often a person does not want or intend to commit a crime but sees no other way.
It feels healthier to offer the benefit of a doubt.
I trust people until they give me a reason not to trust them. And you know? I have to say I still trust almost everyone I’ve ever known.
“The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” We are tempted to hang our heads like Longfellow and say, “There is no …”
But, like Longfellow, when we lift our heads back up, we are likely to discover “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, with peace on earth, good-will to men.”
It’s everywhere we turn, in the smile of a child watching a puppy scamper across a yard, in the hug of a friend in an hour of need, in the laughter of an old man with a long-lost friend, in the tears of strangers leaving a sentimental movie together, in the strains of a street musician’s lonely song, in the rustle of birds taking flight all at once, in the murmur of young lovers with their foreheads touching, and a hundred other sights and sounds every moment, every hour, every day.
This appears to be a harsh and divided world until we lift our eyes to meet our neighbors’ and see the common ground on which we stand — the hope for a better tomorrow, the willingness to live and let live, the fruit of the spirit.
This is a grand and glorious world inhabited by grand and glorious people and surrounded by so much that is grand and glorious.
Of course, many people spend their time with fingers pointed at much that is wrong with what they see, missing the many bits of evidence that The Wrong will fail and The Right prevail. It’s almost as if they have a vested interest in The Wrong. I’m not here, however, to question their motives.
I’m simply pointing out the obvious: The fruit of the spirit is in evidence everywhere we turn, if we will simply look and see.
The Man Who Crossed Whimsy Avenue is off to the print-on-demand distributor. Subtitled and 95 other bits of flash fiction, the next entry in the Bluhm lexicon should be available for pre-order within a week or so, and I’ve set a publishing date of March 22.
Here’s the official blurb:
• A collision at a store entrance reverberates for 70 romantic years. • Fleeing from danger, a man meets an old friend with a secret. • A dragon settles in the backyard, vigilant and watching for — what? • A cow, a moose and a gnome meet on a shelf and become fast friends. • A man absent-mindedly crosses into a colorful, whimsical world. The author of Ebenezer, Myke Phoenix, Dejah & Summer in the Time of Magic and The Imaginary Bomb presents this collection of short-short stories full of intrigue, love, action and, well, whimsy. Warren Bluhm offers up 96 fragments of thought and bursts of creativity in this expanded edition of his collection 24 flashes — four times as many tales, four times as much fun.
The print edition comes out to 212 pages, including 12 pages for the title page, table of contents, introduction and “About the Author” content, so average of slightly more than two pages per tale, and many are less than a page. There ought to be a little something for everyone in there.
I finished formatting the book and uploading to IngramSpark on Wednesday morning. The next step is for them to send me an e-proof for my approval, and then the information heads off to the stores for them to use as they wish. You are certainly welcome to nag your local bookstore for your copy (or copies; Bluhm books make lovely gifts).
For the first time, I took one extra step, taking my cue from Steven Pressfield’s famous anecdote. When Pressfield finished his first novel at long last, he went running to his mentor for a pat on the back. His mentor didn’t look up; he just said, “Good for you. Start the next one today.”
And so, after I logged off from IngramSpark, I called up my word processing app and started preparing See the World, the working title of my next collection of blog posts. If you’d like a taste, here’s the title post.
I’m toying with the idea of also releasing See the World on March 22, and perhaps even a third book. I did, after all, pledge to publish 12 books during 2025, and here it is late February.
