Memory's Door (A Well Spring Novel) (43 page)
“Seek him with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all your strength.
“And finally, love your brothers and sisters deep and well, because this is the greatest command and love covers a multitude of sins.”
“So be it,” Dana said. “Who wrote it?”
“Has to be Carson Tanner.” Reece grinned. “I would say he has been set free from the spirit of religion.”
“Most assuredly.” Marcus smiled as well. “If he stays on the air, I have little doubt his show will take a radical turn from what he has been doing. And I believe in the not-too-distant future he’ll sit with us around this very fire pit.”
“What!” Brandon’s raspy laugh sounded more like a cough.
“During our time in the studio, I invited him to come to one of our Well Spring trainings. I have little doubt he will accept.”
“Any other revelations, Marcus?” Dana said.
“Yes, I believe so. During my journey with Tristan, I received the distinct impression we will be visiting the field of doors again soon.”
The others asked for details with excited voices and Marcus
talked of how he felt the Spirit told him they would all return within the next year. Reece listened to the conversation with a deep sense of peace. The warriors had done well. And he knew all of them would be willing to step into any new quest the Spirit brought them.
He breathed deep, drawing in the smell of burning pinyon pine. The rush of the river was the rhythm guitar to this rock-and-roll symphony of smells and sounds, and a deep joy seeped into every fiber of his body. Brandon would be okay. He would learn to live without his voice being what it once was. He was still the Song and always would be.
“It’s time.” Reece stood. “Take a few more minutes here, please. Just the three of you. Then grab your things. We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes. Let’s go home.”
He strode up to the main cabin. When he reached the nine-foot sliding door, Doug’s voice spoke out from behind.
“Is there anything you’d like to share with me?”
Reece turned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, friend, either you’ve gotten extremely confident with the repetition of walking these grounds, or something rather miraculous is going on with your eyes.”
“The latter description is the most accurate.” Reece pulled off his sunglasses. “But you’re wondering how that can be when all you can see is two scars where my eyes used to be.”
“Yes.”
Reece turned his head back toward where the others sat around the fire pit and talked with animated voices. “The prophecy has come true. I can see again, Doug.” Reece cocked his head toward his friend. “Not in the same way I used to. Not in the way a normal person does. But I see shapes, outlines—of the mountains, the cabin, the river—in impressions of light and darkness. And not all the time—but often—I can see the angelic warriors and the demonic host all around us.”
“How often?”
“In fits and starts. Most of the time it’s muddled and fuzzy. But even then I can see enough to orient myself. Don’t worry; I’m not going to be driving a car anytime soon.”
“What do you see right now?”
Reece turned again toward the fire. Three angels surrounded the fire pit behind the Warriors. “Our new friends are here.”
“Tristan, Jotham, and Orson?”
“Yes.”
“Fascinating.” Doug put his hand on Reece’s arm. “Then it’s probably time to give you something.”
“What?”
“Your journal. I found it out at the fire pit back home behind one of the benches.”
“But didn’t give it to me because it would be too difficult for me not to be able to read it.”
“Yes.”
Doug handed him the journal and Reece caressed the leather cover. “I still can’t read it.”
“Maybe not at this moment, but with your new vision that might change.”
“True. Thank you; this was the perfect moment to return it.” Reece turned his head toward his old friend. A faint gold outline of light gave a distinct shape to his body. “This kind of sight could be extremely useful and extremely terrifying in the days to come.”
Reece took Doug’s forearm. “I thought this would be the Warriors’ last battle together. I thought finding the Wolf and confronting him was the end. The prophecy fulfilled. But now I’m not so sure. I think more freedom is coming if we desire it. For us, and for others.”
Reece focused on where Doug’s face should be. “You’re smiling. I can see it.”
“Yes, friend, I am.” Doug chuckled. “Because you’re right. There is more coming. Much more. The paths of freedom are breaking out all around us, and he has called you and the Warriors to ride.”
1. Which character could you relate to most in
Memory’s Door
? Was it Reece, Brandon, Dana, Marcus, or maybe even Simon? Explain.
2. Tristan, Jotham, and Orson turn out to be angels. Do you think angels can be involved in the lives of Christians as they were with the main characters?
3. One of the major themes of
Memory’s Door
is finding freedom from regret. Do you have regrets from your past? If so, have you allowed them to keep you from truly living in the present?
4. Why do you think it’s so tempting for us to look back on our mistakes?
5. Does the verse from Isaiah 43:18–19—“Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert”—seem too good to be true? Do you think we really can forget the former things and that God can do and is doing a new thing in our lives? Why or why not?
6. If God has “made a way in the wilderness” or “rivers in the desert” for you, can you describe them? Are there others you see coming?
7. At the end of
Memory’s Door
, Reece gets his sight back, but not in the way he was expecting. Have you ever realized God has given you an answer, but it’s far different from what you expected? Was it a good different or a hard different? Why?
8. Brandon lost his voice in the final battle against the Wolf. Have you ever lost something like he did and felt like your life was over?
9. Toward the book’s end, a Jesus appears that turns out to be a counterfeit. How can we know if we are hearing the true voice of the Spirit and not a false one?
10. Carson Tanner had a list of “Redemptive Reminders” he promoted on his radio show. Do you know people who seem to carry a list like that even if it’s only in their heads? Do they bring freedom to the people around them and themselves or bondage?
11. Have you ever “carried” a list of dos and don’ts in your mind? Has it kept you from freedom or brought you freedom?
12. What do you need to do in your life right now that will bring you more freedom?
S
IGNIFICANT THANKS GOES OUT TO MY AGENT
, L
EE
H
OUGH
; my brainstorming friend Ruth Voetmann; my prayer team; all of my team at Thomas Nelson; my editors, Amanda Bostic and Julee Schwarzburg; collaborator Allen Arnold; my sons, Taylor and Micah; my wife, Darci; and last but most certainly far from least, the passionate readers of my novels.
D
EAR FRIENDS
,
The response to
Soul’s Gate
has thrilled me. Authors are frequently too close to their novels to know if a story has worked or not, so it’s been a rush to hear the book is making a serious impact on people’s lives. Some authors write to entertain. I do too, but I also want people to come away from reading one of my books with more freedom than when they started as well as full of the hope that their life can be transformed in significant ways.
With
Memory’s Door,
I had the tremendous privilege of continuing to be with characters who have become a large part of my life and I was eager to see where their story would go. I don’t use an outline when I write. I just transcribe the movie playing in my head, which allows me to experience the story for the first time just as you do.
Yet at the same time, my stories are never a complete surprise because they spring from my subconscious. What I see on my mental movie screen is a part of me. I’ve been asked if there are elements of me in Reece, Dana, Brandon, and Marcus. Yes, without question.
Consequently their struggles are (in part) my struggles. As an author friend of mine says, “My novels are just my personal journals in published form. I’m working the things out in my own life that wind up in my books.”
That statement resonated with me at the time he said it and
it resonates strongly within the framework of
Memory’s Door
. I went through a significant personal and spiritual crisis—and then rebirth—during the time I wrote the novel. It forced me to ask the same question Marcus faces. Can I forget the past, the things of old? Will I open my eyes despite the pain of what has been, in order to see the new thing(s) God is doing and has already done? Can I believe he can and will create rivers in the desert? My answer is yes, I can, because I did believe. And God came through.
My hope for you is you can open your eyes as I did, to see the good he is doing in your life. I don’t know where you are on your journey through this reality, but I do know we have a choice every day and in every moment to enter boldly into the unquenchable love, grace, and mercy the One offers to our hearts, our minds, and our souls.
To your joy and freedom,
James L. Rubart
2013
Photo by Christophoto, Bothell, WA
J
AMES
L. R
UBART IS A PROFESSIONAL MARKETER
and speaker. He is the author of the best-selling novel
Rooms
as well as
Book of Days
,
The Chair
, and
Soul’s Gate
. He lives with his wife and sons in the Pacific Northwest.