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“The day wanes until the sun is caught once more in the net of the darkening sky. I struggle ahead of the cart now, into the tracks. I pretend the wind covers his words, that I cannot hear him. Ice cuts through the canvas rags on my feet, but still my curiosity about these footprints compels me. I pretend to stumble, and I fall to the ground so my face is close to the trail.”
PHOTO SOURCE: untitled by sundog- on Flickr.
(Source: magicsystem)
“The day wanes until the sun is caught once more in the net of the darkening sky. I struggle ahead of the cart now, into the tracks. I pretend the wind covers his words, that I cannot hear him. Ice cuts through the canvas rags on my feet, but still my curiosity about these footprints compels me. I pretend to stumble, and I fall to the ground so my face is close to the trail.”
PHOTO SOURCE: yama-bato: Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Zima, 1901–1902
"The sound of a distant ocean covers me with surf, that tide that bears me back eternally into the past, back to the place where I was born. My mother took me out in our little fishing boat, out on the open water of the sea. The thrum and hiss of surf upon the shore behind us, the breaking rhythm never ceasing. My mother waited until we were out of sight of land…. Now, people come through the whiteness towards me, but all of them are ghosts."
“Fog lifts in the valley, rising as mist through the bare limbed trees. Far below, the deeping combe with our village in the heart of it. My whole world for nearly a decade has been contained in that place – and now the village of Duns is so small. I hold up my hand, form a circle with my fingers. Now the distant village seems a child’s plaything that I can hold in my own hand, wreathed in gossamer mist.”
PHOTO: frigxd: Bridalveil Fall
(Source: FRIGXD)
“April comes to us, with her showers sweet. I wake to the cries of little birds before the light comes across the heath. They wait all night with open eyes. Now, with the rain at dawn, their voices make melody. I turn back the reveled cloth of gold on my bed and walk to gaze beyond my glazed casement window. In the plaintive voices of the wood fowl, I imagine my mother calling to me, her words echoing across the years.”
PHOTO SOURCE: amarepervivere: More?
Sinful Folk illustrator Nikki McClure's painstaking papercut process.Love her artwork, and her fabulous cover for Sinful Folk!
PHOTO: gathrnomoss: Papercut by Nikki McClure by LSO - The Mark Olympia on Flickr.
"April comes to us, with her showers sweet. I wake to the cries of little birds before the light comes across the heath. They wait all night with open eyes. Now, with the rain at dawn, their voices make melody." I imagine my mother calling to me, her words echoing across the years. Every night, I slip into the empty winter land of memory."— from the novel Sinful Folk, by Ned Hayes
The newly released novel Sinful Folk recounts one mother’s journey across medieval England following a suspicious house fire that burned five children to death in December 1377. With Mear, a former nun, as its central character, the story begins with heartbreak and ends with redemption. It’s not necessarily the kind of offering you’d expect from someone immersed in the software industry. And yet it all makes sense when you consider author Ned Hayes’s own story-a story in which Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry and Associate Professor Mark Taylor factor prominently.
Sinful Folk , last month’s #1 best-seller in Amazon’s historical fiction category, was partly inspired by a 14 th century story Hayes read while doing graduate work in medieval literature. However, it was his time in the School of Theology and Ministry’s Master of Divinity program that really planted the seeds for what would become his first novel.
Currently a senior product manager at Intel, Hayes says his SU experience got him to look at theology through the new lens of a feminist and Catholic perspective. “I don’t think I think I could have written a book on a Catholic feminist theologian with Jewish roots without Seattle University and the diversity of perspectives afforded to me by Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry.
“What I found really inspiring about the school was the ability for people of different approaches to find common ground and to learn from each other. I found that to be really very healthy, inspiring and stimulating. The experience opened my eyes to things I had never considered before-a lot of the work around feminist theology, Hebrew understanding of scripture and also Catholic and Jesuit approaches taught me how to write from different perspectives, and honor those voices.”
After studying at SU Hayes continued attended Luther Seminary as a Heritage Fellow. In time, he came to the realization that full-time ministry as leader of a faith community wasn’t for him, and yet, even as he continues his work at Intel, Hayes sees his ministry coming out in writing as he tells sacred stories of forgiveness.
“I really credit Dr. Taylor and Seattle University for inspiring me to write stories that are about redemption and transcendence. The theology I studied was relevant for me in ways I hadn’t anticipated.”
For more information, visit SinfulFolk.com.
New Perspective: Theology and Storytelling was originally published on NedNote
