My
first teaching and coaching stint occurred in Wyoming. Goshen Hole High School,
at that time, was the second smallest school in the state. 72 kids in the high
school, 110 kids in grades seven through twelve. I taught social studies and
was the head coach of the boys’ basketball team. Great kids, great experience.
Happy I did it. Wondering sometimes how I did it.
The
town I lived in was Yoder, population 101. Yes, seriously. A gas station, a
post office, and a water tower. A party line I shared with three other homes.
Miles and miles of, well, nothing. There was an old song by the Who, the lyrics
were, “I can see for miles and miles . . .” They didn’t lie.
Growing
up in the city for most of my life, I hadn’t noticed how bright stars were until
I moved to Wyoming. City lights dimmed them. They weren’t as bright. In
Wyoming, especially where I lived, there wasn’t a “city” and there certainly
were no lights to compete with the utter blackness of the night sky.
Stars,
like a sprinkling of diamonds on a black velvet drape, shown bright and clear.
The sheer expanse was breathtaking. Like in a child’s fairy tale, they
twinkled, sparkled, and honestly, even now twenty-four years after calling
Wyoming home for three years, I can still picture it.
Darkness.
Blackness. Stars.
Another
thought . . .
We
just had three or four days of rain. Gray. Clouds. Dark. Dreary. Think of your
own synonym, your own picture. I, probably like most everyone else, felt the
weight of it. Tired. Rather depressing.
This
morning, nothing but bright blue sky. The sun seemed to be brighter than
normal.
Happens
all the time, doesn’t it?
First
of all, stars against the expanse of darkness. The sun after the grayness, the
darkness of rain.
Each
of us experience the dark times of life. We travel through periods where
darkness seems overwhelming. We feel the weight of it. Tiredness, sometimes
depression sets in. We feel lonely, if not alone.
Yet,
even in darkness, stars shine brightly. They seem cleaner, and somehow, clearer.
Even after the darkness of a cloudy day, the sun comes out brighter than ever.
Clearer than ever.
And
the thing about the sun and stars . . . they are always present. They are
always there. They never go away. And, they aren’t going anywhere. There are
times we can’t see them clearly, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
At
times, even in our darkest, bleakest days or nights, there are those we can
lean on, those we can depend on, those we can count on. We might not see them
readily. We might not feel their presence. Yet, like the sun and stars, they
are there. They can be our own stars, our own sun.
I’m
wondering . . . actually hoping and praying . . . that there can be more of us
willing to be the star or sun in someone’s life. I’m wondering if, when
noticing someone traveling through a dark night, a rainy day of life or of
soul, someone . . . you or me, perhaps . . . can be that someone, that sun,
that star. Willing to give it a try? I hope so. I pray so. Something to think about
. . .
Live
Your Live, and Make A Difference!
To
My Readers:
My
new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12, 2020! It is a
contemporary psychological thriller using some of the same characters from my
previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation Reservation in northeast
Arizona.
Connect
with me on Social Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Caught
in a Web is now available in Audio format. You can find it
at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
Spiral
Into Darkness:
Named
a Recommended Read in the Author Shout Reader Awards!
He
blends in. He is successful, intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has
murdered eight on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no
clues. There are no leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go
on is the method of death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send
a message. But it’s difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and
damaged mind. Two adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea
they are the next targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local
law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught
in a Web:
A
PenCraft Literary Award Winner!
The
bodies of high school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of
heroin and fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the
Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El
Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is
cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has
an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had
killed his cousin the previous summer.
Detectives
Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the
drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially
George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its
roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book
One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two
thirteen year old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six
men escaped and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity,
are in danger and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no
clues, no leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them.
http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book
Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A
14 year old boy knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or
by whom. Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his
family.
The
Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI
Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of
six boys left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they
don’t know one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern,
and 11 year old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys
become interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand.
The three of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives
are in jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Photo
courtesy of Sam Goodgame and Unsplash
