Inspiration Behind the Story – JM Bray

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Inspiration Behind the Story – JM Bray

19576Church, it’s a place where we should receive inspiration, at least if everything is working as it should.

I’m guessing the pastor didn’t intend it to be the kind that popped into my head while I sat in the pew that Sunday morning. The message included the passage where an army surrounds the Israelites. The servant of prophet Elisha goes into panic mode. Then it says this in 2 Kings 6:17:

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Right then, whatever the preacher intended, went out the window. I’d heard the passage before, but today it took me somewhere else. Possibilities peeled open like flower petals: The horses and chariots didn’t show up because of the prayer…they were already there, all that changed was the servant’s perspective. What if the army on those horses and chariots were as unaware of our world as the servant was of there’s? Maybe they had their own lives and lived them on the same lands as we have but with each existence shrouded by some sort of barrier.21488

I couldn’t tell you what the message was that Sunday, but I know the one I walked away with changed my life. From those kernels, Tearing the Shroud was born.

J.M. Bray lives in Southern California with his college sweetheart and their two dogs. After a lifetime together, they are happier than the moment they met. In his spare time, he races an old Porsche named ‘Tuffy’.  The sequel to Tearing the Shroud, Mending the Shroud, is available for pre-order now.

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