Seek first the Kingdom of God...
Other Projects
Candor
Have you ever noticed that in many marriages, one spouse approaches any issues that arise with a burning desire to “Get to the Bottom of It?” Often, the other partner would prefer to postpone, avoid, or even ignore the issue as long as possible, hoping maybe it will go away.
As a “get to the bottom of it” guy, Jeremy realized two decades into his marriage that if Mary ever brought up an issue, he was willing to engage so enthusiastically that she soon wished she had never brought it up. He was disincentivizing the one thing he wanted: to get to the bottom of it.
Jeremy developed CANDOR as a tool for his wife to use to openly and fully express the issues that concerned her.
CANDOR systematically maps a couple’s arguments. It forces both partners to listen by insisting that they accurately reflect the other’s position before responding. It provides rules for taking a time out when things get heated. And it encourages the couple to argue methodically and completely, decreasing the chances that tomorrow you will think, “I should have said_______.”
Candor is not commercially available, but if it sounds like a tool your marriage could use, contact Jeremy. He could provide a file for you to print your own cards if you would commit to using the CANDOR process and offer him feedback on the game.
Heritage Family Health Journal
The Heritage Family Health Journal is an informal method of record-keeping designed for families who want to be more involved in their health care. The informal journal assists people in approaching their health challenges intentionally, aids in making the decision of when and how to use allopathic and natural remedies, and can be a useful tool to help an individual follow through on their good intentions.
The structure of the journal is designed to help each family build a resource so that successes and lessons learned in the past can be referenced and used more effectively in the future.
The Journal is not available commercially at this time, but for families who understand how such a journal might help, the author could provide a copy for them to begin using while he finishes developing the final version. He would value feedback on the practicality of the Journal, believing it would help produce a better final product.
Dysorganized Religion
For some individuals, the church has been a valuable help in coming to know and love God. For others, the church has been the biggest obstacle to finding that relationship. Apparent greed, glaring inconsistencies, and, sometimes, outright abuse, all done in the name of the church, have given people a reason to distrust the church and the god it claims to represent.
Many have undertaken a defense of the church, pleading for understanding or offering a guide to determine who really speaks for the church and who the charlatans are. But every approach seems to accept the unstated premise that if you can’t stomach the church, then you can’t have a relationship with God.
Dysorganized Religion was written to offer such people hope.
As a secondary aim, it provides an analysis of how the church’s confusion about the old and new covenants corrupted it far earlier than I had imagined. The book finishes with a hopeful personal solution to the problem. Obey the King.
If this sounds like a book that could help you personally, don’t wait for it to get published. Contact Jeremy via email at unemployedidealist@protonmail.com and ask for a copy. He wants you to believe that God loves you, even if the church concerns or even disgusts you.
Burnished Rows of Steel
My foray into writing came as the result of a dream. Not a dream in the sense of a cherished ambition, but as the result of a nighttime sleeping kind of dream. I often dream complex action-adventure movies with me as the main character. They are better than the best movie in a theater because I am right in the action.
One morning, after dreaming a particularly complex plot, I wondered if such dreams were just for personal enjoyment or if they were something I should package for the world to enjoy. I decided the only way to find the answer was to try.
I recorded the story I experienced in my dream in writing and then began the tedious process of editing and proofreading. As if that wasn’t frustrating enough, then I found a publisher. A year and a half into the process, just as my book was finally printed, the Oklahoma Secretary of State informed me that my publisher had been indicted on many counts of racketeering. Much of my frustration with the publishing process stemmed from the fact that I appeared to be working with crooks.
I think Burnished Rows of Steel is a very exciting blending of philosophy, psychology, and high-stakes political adventure set against the backdrop of northern Minnesota.
I have unfortunately given away my last copy of the book. If you are interested in reading the novel, you could listen to an excerpt from the book at the link below, or you could contact me and ask for a pdf. file. If there was enough interest in the book, publishing it might become a higher priority.
Duck Tape Publishing
After my debut into the commercial publishing world, I abandoned my hopes of publishing my work and concentrated on creating content. As often as I found people who expressed an interest in my material, I would use my desktop printer to print the pages, staple them together, trim the sides, and add a binding of Duck Tape to make it look snazzy.
The time investment in producing one of these volumes means it isn’t economically viable, so I never charged for a copy. They were too costly for the economic market; they could only be afforded as a gift of love.
If you would like a copy of one of my many unpublished works, contact me, and I will get out the Duck Tape just for you. (My grandkids love helping me make these copies.)
My list of unpublished work is as follows:
- Burnished Rows of Steel
- Dysorganized Religion
- The Musings of a School Board Curmudgeon
- CANDOR Journal
- Heritage Family Health Journal
- Ida’s Bars (Drama)
- It could Happen (Drama)
- CANDOR (Card set)
- Listening Protocol (Card Set)
- Bus School (Curriculum for Transportation Departments)
It Could Happen!
I had never considered writing a play until a friend asked me if I could adapt one of my stories for the stage. I wrote Ida’s Bars, which is a fun youth drama with an unexpectedly deep message. The challenge of writing an effective drama continued to haunt me until my daughter began clamoring for a play to be involved in. Deciding to do something about it, I wrote It Could Happen!
As the title suggests, this play presents a series of imaginary back stories for five women with whom Jesus briefly interacted. The woman whose son was raised to life, the daughter of the Syro-Phonecian women, Jarius’ daughter, the woman with the bent back, and the wife and daughter of one of the travelers to Emmaus. (These two aren’t specifically mentioned in scripture, but their presence can be inferred.) The one boy in the play is imaginary and written in because my son wished to be a part of the production with his sister.
The play is set several years after Jesus’ resurrection. The persecution that broke out in the early days of the church has subsided to mere harassment. Simca, the woman with the bent back, is engaged to Daniel, the rich young ruler who walked away unhappy after Jesus suggested he should sell all his possessions. (The play accounts for his change of heart and records his efforts to sell everything.) Six women have gathered to make preparations for the wedding celebration. In the course of their day together, they each share their story.
I would love to see the play performed again. If this sounds like a drama that someone you know might be interested in performing, please contact me. I included the program from our performance to help you get a sense of the play.