The Word Worker

Author: wordworkerrussell

  • Of What… To What?

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    by

    wordworkerrussell
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    The word “repent” is one of the most used words in the Christian world. We rattle it off as a requirement in sermons, classes, writings, and conversations. Nearly all, if not all, who claim Christianity agree that repentance is a necessity. Unfortunately, when we start asking of what we are to repent, the answers start…

  • The Bridge

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    wordworkerrussell
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    It only appeared in the fog, the old bridge. Not the morning fog when the rising sun burned off the surface of the river. The rare sunset mist defying the golden glow spilling over the horizon. The mist that was both there and not there, with impossible shapes darkening it. With the bridge that couldn’t…

  • Purgatory

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The harsh brightness of the midday square angered him. Even the fountain stood dead before the theater, colorful banners hanging breezeless above it, hallmarks of the latest empty dance of gauze and orchestral cacophony. Sweat beaded in the furrow above his eyebrows, daring him to mop it away with the napkin crushed in his grip.…

  • Portal

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    wordworkerrussell
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    Hugh carefully backed around the corner he had just rounded and leaned against the cool stone, sucking a deep breath into his startled lungs. Eyes wide, he took another peek. The hole in the wall was still there. It definitely wasn’t there before. He trembled; his old nurse maid would have mumbled about witchcraft and…

  • Old Friends

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The spring gurgled cheekily, making Hob smile as he dried his supper dishes. The warm glow from his kitchen window touched the thick green undergrowth, a contrast to the misty dusk filtering through the trees behind. He knew the chapel would be sharing its own glow across the pond, with Father Ziz at his prayers…

  • The Phantom’s Mask

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The flashlight beam reflected from the dark water, and she stirred the water with her toe just to break the unnatural stillness. Even her footsteps barely whispered in the cavern. Quite a contrast from the busy, vibrant stage far overhead. She continued skirting the lake, passing her light over damp columns. The years had left…

  • Conscious

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    wordworkerrussell
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    The wreckage from the treetops littered the moss, cracking under Pim’s feet. He placed his palm against the bark of the nearest trunk, feeling the thrum of distress from its heartwood. The storm had happened too early, whipping into the new growth forest before the development of deadwood. Pim didn’t understand the complex algorithms that…

  • Stewards and Kings

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    wordworkerrussell
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    In Tolkien’s famous trilogy, the kingdom of Gondor was ruled by kings who carried elven blood in their veins and lived by a sense of honor stemming from the Valar themselves. These kings ruled from a great throne while their most trusted advisors sat in stewardship below. When Isildur failed and left Gondor kingless, the…

  • A Round Peg in a Square Hole: What is Learning?

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    wordworkerrussell
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    Before any of my children were born, I had ideas about what education was supposed to look like. I had been homeschooled and knew I wanted to homeschool my own children, but I thought in terms of curricula, subjects, schedules, and grades. We were going to be academically rigorous and graduate at the top of…

  • Whose Righteousness is Our Passion?

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    wordworkerrussell
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    By the time Jesus was born into the physical world, the Jewish culture had become centered around scholarship. Status, wealth, and privilege were guaranteed to increase according to the detail of one’s familiarity with the Hebrew scriptures and the eloquent certainty with which one spoke of them. Their entire political system revolved around heated arguments…