The Word Worker

Author: wordworkerrussell

  • The Stokers

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    by

    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    Suli adjusted her breather, coughing at the acrid scent of smoke. “Drake’s breath, if the Princes are gonna make us take shifts in the Nursery, they could at least make sure our equipment works.” Derk grunted, heaving a load of coal into the nearest furnace. He wiped his face on a grimy sleeve, accomplishing little…

  • The Significance of a Baby

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    by

    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    In a tiny, insignificant town a baby was born. His first cries were drowned by the loving and cackling of farm animals and by the busy merriment of hostel guests just the other side of the wall. His young mother wrapped his flailing arms in linen strips stored nearby for the care of newborn lambs,…

  • The Folly

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    “Come on, Sal, what kind of place is this for a picnic? It’s creepy!” “Donny, you’re the scariest guy I’ve ever met. It’s just an old building and some dead trees. Can’t you imagine what this place looked like in its heyday?” “Heyday? Sometimes I think you’re an old ruin, Sal. Who talks like that?…

  • The Round Peg in a Square Hole: No Words

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    by

    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    I’m a writer. I don’t mean that I write for the public, though obviously I do. I mean that I express myself through the written word. I love the way words come together to depict complex ideas and emotions, the beauty in the way they flow. With my pen, I can think. Except when I…

  • Outside the Boundaries

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    When Paul wrote to the Christians in the city of Rome, they were beginning to fracture as a group from the pressures of human diversity. As capital of the empire, Rome was a cultural conglomerate. Trade and politics brought representatives from every conceivable background into close proximity, and the call of Christ left no group…

  • New

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    I could almost imagine I was back home in Spruce Falls. The gravel crunching beneath my feet. The whisper of foliage in the silent wind. Fluttering wings, scritching and rustling of undergrowth dwellers, twittering and chattering far overhead. Then I open my eyes to… pink. The Overseers insist I’ll get used to it. I’m not…

  • Mirror, Mirror

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    Good morning, my queen. Your wish is my command. You wish to know the fairest in the land? Of course you! Who else possess this marble perfection? (The aroma of your conceit sends delicious shivers through my bones. I drink it like wine, intoxicating ether.) What thwarts your smile of ice, Majesty? Does trust in…

  • Keep the Feast

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    wordworkerrussell
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    As Jesus prepared to face the cross, He blessed the Passover meal one last time with His closest friends. As he snapped the crisp bread in pieces to share and raised His cup with theirs, He told them what those tokens had always symbolized. It wasn’t the first time He used bread and vintage as…

  • I Remember

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    wordworkerrussell
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    I remember.The stunned faces of teenagers watching horrific history play out in real time on classroom tvs. I remember.Teachers calling relatives in New York and crying for missing loved ones and the inevitable death toll. I remember. The face of a president in a room full of children when the news was whispered in his…

  • Service or Advertisement?

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    wordworkerrussell
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    We’ve all seen them, the advertising campaigns purporting awareness of some issue or another, some need. We’ve seen the politicians showing up at events or businesses when there is personal advantage to be gained. Many platitudes are exchanged, few practical or permanent solutions are implemented. Usually the one who benefits most from such is the…