Elaine Marie Cooper Author

Historical Fiction That Grabs Your Heart and Feeds Your Soul

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“I’m Confused”

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I recently saw one of my favorite movies from the ‘80’s entitled “Moonstruck.” It’s the story of an Italian-American family and their often laughable, sometimes melancholic events that vacillate from dramatic to heartrending to comical. Throughout the movie, one feels the great love that is at the heart of this extended family.

One of my favorite scenes is near the end during the kitchen table finale. The adult daughter breaks up with one fiancée and then agrees to marry his brother instead. It is brilliantly written, and shows the changing condition of our lives from one moment to the next. In the midst of the situation, the elderly grandfather becomes confused and begins to weep. His son, Cosmo Castorini, looks at his dad. “What’s the matter, Pop?”

The old man rubs his moist eyes. “I’m confused.”

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It’s a sweet and funny moment—yet seems to express the sentiment of the hour in which we live: We’re confused.

 

Consider these recent occurrences:

 

–       A former male Olympian re-emerges as a female

–       A male singer at an airport dresses in a skirt, wears makeup and bright pink high heeled women’s shoes, and no one seems to bat an eye

–       A terrorist who has killed a child with a bomb is featured on the cover of a popular magazine

–       A best selling book featuring a woman in bondage is deemed a romance and turned into a successful movie

–       United States military chaplains are not allowed to express Christianity in their work

 

And we thought the grandfather from Moonstruck was confused.

We as a society have allowed confusion to reign when we ignore basic principles in God’s word. Life is really not all that confusing when we seek wisdom from our Creator.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV)

Does this mean we become haters and mockers of those who are confused? No. We are commanded to love but to be unafraid to stand for the truth. But until faith and trust softens the hearts and souls of non-believers, confusion will reign.

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

The answer to the confusion? Prayer. Pray for salvation for those who are confused and that the eyes of the spiritually blind will see.

It is only through the cross of Christ that reaches to heaven to forgive ALL of our sins—yours and mine—that hearts will be changed, and confusion turned to understanding and peace.

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

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Featured image of Confusion courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Trains, Tragedies and Destinies

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I watched the breaking news story with sadness: A train derailed and over a hundred were injured. As time progressed, the news became even more tragic as several were reported dead and many were listed in critical condition at area hospitals.

Interviews with survivors made you wonder how anyone came through this wreckage of twisted metal with their wits about them and their bodies intact.

Then I remembered a story my mother shared with me years ago. It was another train derailment that occurred during World War II.

My parents, who lived in New York City, were escorting a young female friend who was on her way to visit a soldier—her boyfriend who was stationed at a military camp in New Jersey. My parents had been married less than three years and my oldest brother had been left in the care of Grandma. The train they boarded was packed with travelers and they walked from car to car, looking for one that was less crowded. My dad looked ahead at the next car and turned towards Mom: “They’re all just as crowded. We might as well stay in this one.”

Mom, Dad and their young friend apparently found a spot to squeeze into a seat. They settled in to the noisy uncomfortable train car before it left the station. The cars lurched forward and they began their journey.

Then the unthinkable happened. Screeching metal and screams pierced the atmosphere as bodies were flung from their seats. After what seemed an endless time of terror, the train cars finally stopped, but not before massive casualties revealed the loss of many. Nearly every passenger in the car ahead—where Dad had almost taken the two women—were killed. Many were hurt in the other cars as well.

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Both of my parents and the young woman received minor injuries and the worst was that their friend’s eyes became crossed from the impact. While all three survived, the terror of the incident persisted. For months afterwards, my parents experienced post-traumatic stress whenever they rode public transportation. The slightest sound that seemed unusual set their hearts racing. Eventually, those moments of anxiety lessened and finally ceased.

My parents lived for many more years and had five more children. I was the last child, born about nine years later. My dad survived to the age of 76 and my mom to the ripe old age of 99.

There was another train accident involving my family that occurred decades before this. My grandfather, Benjamin Prince, was only in his twenties and worked on the elevated rail in New York City. The shift had ended but he continued to work on the underside of a train car, making sure it was fixed. Sadly, the engineer who showed up at shift change was unaware my grandfather was still underneath when he started up the train.

This tragedy occurred less than a month after a child was conceived. My young widowed grandmother didn’t even know she was expecting her second child—my Mom—when her husband was killed.

These train tragedies remind me of two things: Our lives are fragile and God is in charge of the length of our days. It is a reminder to me that I must use my time wisely while here on earth; God has a purpose and a destiny for each of us. It also reminds me that God is watching over those whose time has not yet come and will keep us safe until that day when He calls us home. It is both sobering and comforting.

“Man’s days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” Job 14: 5

Jesus said: “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” John 16: 22

 

Are Conservative Christians Ignoring Compassion?

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I first became aware of a community concern one day when listening to the Christian radio station: An organization that serves needy moms in the area was looking for help. The deejay explained that a well-known group that facilitates local adoptions was low on their supply of infant formula. At the end of each month, when the cupboards in local households are growing bare, this group distributes formula to help babies get through a few days without hunger.

Many young moms in the program have worked with this agency to learn options for their pregnancy—alternatives to abortion. Some make an adoption plan. Others opt to parent their children. Many are single moms and most are poor. I’ve been told the line of moms awaiting cans of formula winds down the street. And they always run out of cans before they run out of hopeful faces standing in a queue.

When I became aware of this outreach in the community, it occurred to me that I might be able to help on a regular basis. As a nurse who has worked in the past with the needy, I fear that young moms will begin to dilute the expensive formula that is meant to be prepared appropriately for optimal growth of their children.  Infants with inadequate nutrition can carry the side effects throughout their lifetimes. That first year of nutrition is key for a child’s brain development.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, I envisioned a simple outreach at my own church, though it was miles away from the inner city program that distributes the formula. With our pastor’s blessing, a friend at church and I began a monthly collection of formula and diapers. One of us then delivers the cans and packages to the small storefront location where, in a couple of days, the line will form once again—a line of hope in the midst of poverty.

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Am I sharing this story to brag about what a great Christian I am? Hardly. But I have been disturbed by recent stories on social media claiming that all government programs that serve families in need are encouraging an attitude of entitlement.

Are some of the recipients taking advantage of a government that encourages a welfare state? Absolutely. Does that mean we throw out the “baby with the bath water” as the old saying goes? I say, that is a heartless and ill-informed approach. There are many families who need a helping hand in difficult times and, while we’d like to think the local churches will foot the bill, that doesn’t always happen.

I worked in one of these “welfare” programs years ago that provided nutritional guidance, medical evaluations and food to young children. Were there families who took advantage? Yes. Were there families who were truly in need being helped? Absolutely.

The ones I remember the most were the handicapped kids who needed special formulas to survive. They were dependent on tube feedings and the cost was enormous. If the families involved had to purchase a month’s supply from their monthly income, they would have been thrust into deep poverty that would impact the entire family. When there is a special needs child in a home, it becomes a family affair—a blessing, albeit a difficult and costly one.

We can be all about pro-life, but will we allow our taxes to help maintain a life that is not convenient? It’s food for thought while sipping on our lattes.

Even regular infant formula is very expensive. The can that I purchased this week was $25 and that was the “sale” price. And the amount in that can will only feed a baby for a few days.

While I am not endorsing a liberal attitude of “free food for all,” I am endorsing compassion. And I’m encouraging Christians to pray and seek ways that we can be the hands of Jesus in a world where “the poor will always be with us.”

In our efforts as conservatives trying to be fiscally responsible, we can be in danger of ignoring God’s commands to help the poor. “He who is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done.” Proverbs 19:17

Instead of ranting on social media about attitudes of entitlement, perhaps a Christ-like attitude of rallying the Christian community to works of compassion would please the Savior Who loved us even when we didn’t love Him.

 

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…” Matthew 25: 35

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3: 17-18

“He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” Proverbs 28: 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Alice Wisler Interview and Review: Under the Silk Hibiscus

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Short Synopsis of Under the Silk Hibiscus:
During World War Two, Nathan and his family are sent to Heart Mountain, an internment camp in Wyoming for Japanese-Americans. Nathan’s one desire is to protect the family’s gold pocket watch, a family heirloom brought over from Japan. He fails; the watch is stolen. Struggling to make sense of his life in this land of “freedom” as the only responsible man of the household, Nathan discovers truths about his family, God, and the girl he loves.
Interview with Alice J. Wisler:
Tell us the story behind writing Under the Silk Hibiscus.
Friends in town have parents who were in internment camps during World War II and after hearing a few of their stories, I wanted to learn more about that time in our history.  I grew up in Japan, and yet had not read much about Japanese-Americans that  were forced to camps in 1942 because they looked like the “enemy” (i.e., they were of Japanese descent).  The research I did for the novel was mind-boggling and thought-provoking.  I got to interview one woman who was in a camp in Arizona. In addition to Under the Silk Hibiscus being a novel (fiction), I want others to grasp the history (truth) and have an understanding of what transpires when we let fear and prejudice overtake us.
Give us a glimpse of how your writing journey began.
From the time I was six, I loved to create stories.  My first and second grade teacher in our one-room school house in Kyoto, Japan, encouraged me.  She let me read my stapled-stick-figure-illustrated booklets to the class.
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We have in common that we write both nonfiction and fiction. Has combining these two genres been a challenge for you? If so, how?
 
I started off with fiction.  I used to write love stories on Saturday afternoons when I was in middle school.  But when my son died in 1997, I found non-fiction to be what I needed to write.  I wrote a lot of articles for grief and bereavement magazines.  My devotional, Getting Out of Bed in the Morning, is dear to me because it is about grief and loss—such a huge part of my life.   I don’t think writing both types of books has been a challenge.  So many writing techniques are similar for both of them.
Do you have current writing projects you are working on?
Always.  Fiction and non-fiction.
How can readers connect with you?
Please follow me on Twitter
Facebook Author Page
and my blog, The Patchwork Quilt
 
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 My Review of Under the Silk Hibiscus:

Some historical novels are merely entertaining while others carry you on a journey of insight into human nature and the power of God to transform. Under the Silk Hibiscus fits into the latter category and transports a reader to a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

This novel is the story of a teenage boy of Japanese descent. Although an American by birth, he is forced into a world where he is under suspicion solely based on his family’s heritage.  His entire world is shaken with loss and grief as he is forced into the role of keeping the remnants of his family intact.

With endearing characters and a story that unfolds with both realism and hope, this novel by Alice J. Wisler earns an enthusiastic five stars.

Author Bio:

Alice Wisler has authored four novels published by Bethany House:  Rain Song (Christy Finalist), How Sweet It Is (Christy Finalist), Hatteras Girl and A Wedding Invitation, and Still Life in Shadows by River North/Moody. Her devotional, Getting out of Bed in the Morning:  Reflections of Comfort in Heartache (Leafwood), covers the many losses we face and how God sustains us through each one.  Under the Silk Hibiscus, released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, is her latest novel and first historical.

In 1999, she founded Daniel’s House Publications (in memory of her four-year-old son Daniel), an organization to help fellow bereaved parents. She teaches Writing the Heartache workshops and Writing the Psalms workshops both online and at conferences across the country. The workshops stress the value and benefits of writing from pain and loss for healing, health, and hope.

In 2012, she and her husband started a business, Carved By Heart, where they carve log cabin mailboxes, memorial plaques/remembrances, house number signs, bird feeders, rustic clocks, and other home décor.

Although Alice grew up as missionary kid in Japan, and traveled the world, she’s now settled with her husband, three children and the handsomest boxer you’ve ever seen, in Durham, NC.

Alice is offering a Kindle copy of Under the Silk Hibiscus to one blessed winner! Leave a comment on this blog with your email address and you will be entered in the drawing.

245th Anniversary of Boston Massacre

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Today is the 245th Anniversary of the infamous Boston Massacre. The incident took place even before the American Revolution officially began, but was a key event that ignited the flames of anger leading to that war.

Snow was still on the ground that freezing day in Boston in 1770, much as it is now. The King’s Army had already occupied the city for two years in hopes of quelling riots that broke out in protest to the increased taxes levied by King George and the British Parliament. The American Colonists were frustrated and angry. Tensions between the soldiers and the 16,000 residents of Boston were already high. [Read more…] about 245th Anniversary of Boston Massacre