Tunnels In The Briar Patch Short Tales Of Roland McCray

By Blaine Coleman
$2.99 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Jan. 05, 2013
Words: 39,678 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301212033

Short description

Roland McCray's story is one of life and religion growing up in the south. He seeks a path, a tunnel though the briar patch of life. This tale of a boy’s search for a moral life is told with rich visual detail, in a classic Americana/Twain style. It’s a good moral teaching for children 10 and up and the finer nuances can be appreciated by anyone older. Roland McCray’s story is everyone’s story.

Extended description

Roland McCray's story is one of life and religion growing up in the south. Young Roland hears the Parable of the sower in church and is told that those who are willing to listen will know the truth of it. He sees that the way he is told the world should be is not the same world he sees around himself and that the cares of the world, the desire for worldly riches are the brambles and thorns that that choke out the Word of God from those around him. So, knowingly or not, Roland searches for a way through those thorns so that he won't be one of those whom lose out on knowing the Word, a path to follow through the temptations of the world that surround his life. Seeing that even religious leaders fall to the thorns of life, he searches for his own answers and his own path, a tunnel through the briar patch that is life. He encounters resistance to his search because most people don't recognize just how far off the path they truly are, yet he perseveres. Does Roland find the path he seeks .. (Read more) Roland McCray's story is one of life and religion growing up in the south. Young Roland hears the Parable of the sower in church and is told that those who are willing to listen will know the truth of it. He sees that the way he is told the world should be is not the same world he sees around himself and that the cares of the world, the desire for worldly riches are the brambles and thorns that that choke out the Word of God from those around him. So, knowingly or not, Roland searches for a way through those thorns so that he won't be one of those whom lose out on knowing the Word, a path to follow through the temptations of the world that surround his life. Seeing that even religious leaders fall to the thorns of life, he searches for his own answers and his own path, a tunnel through the briar patch that is life. He encounters resistance to his search because most people don't recognize just how far off the path they truly are, yet he perseveres. Does Roland find the path he seeks through the brambles or do the thorns of life choke his search as it has for so many? This tale of one young boy’s search for a moral life is told with rich visual detail, in a classic Americana style reminiscent of Mark Twain. It is suitable to be read as a moral teaching for children aged 10 and up, plus the finer nuances of Roland’s actions and observations can be appreciated by anyone older. Roland McCray’s story is, in some small way, everyone’s story.

More Roland McCray tales are available at your favorite eBook retailers and the print copy can be ordered through Createspace and many book and eBook retailers, including libraries, with new stories scheduled for publication in 2013.

In “Crater Hill” Roland first begins to question why much of what he is taught in church seems to say more than one thing.

In “My Wheel” Roland learns by listening instead of experiencing the lesson.

In “Poke it with a Stick”, Roland learns to accept what he has, and that it is valuable even if not exactly what he wanted.

In “Butterflies”, Roland discovers that not everything is as it seems and he begins appreciate the freedoms he has and to empathize with those who don’t have the things he’d assumed everyone else had as well.

In “Oak Grove Baptist Church” Roland notices that the Reverend and many in the congregation seem more concerned with worldly things rather than the Spiritual, and it becomes a pivotal point in his life.

In “Walls” Roland sees the physical manifestations of a history of racism, bigotry and religious and class separation and realizes that those attitudes aren’t confined to the past, but are still prevalent in his world.

In “Snake on a Fence”, Roland encounters an old wive’s tale and learns more from it than he’d expected.

In “Of Cults and Klans”, Roland learns of different religious beliefs that lead him to question his own.

"A Boy and his Dog” is a classic tale of a boy and his best friend.

In “The Wood Duck”, Roland brings a fresh perspective to peer pressure.
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Tags

spirituality, nostalgia, religion, civil war, morality, rural, americana

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