Tag: God
We All Know
On this winter solstice – the longest night of the year – I think of the birth of light and how it grows to envelope the Earth and everything that is a part of creation. I will contemplate on that light every day this week as we approach Christmas Day. As I do, I will smile as I reflect on Alistair McKenzie’s song We All Know.
Early Christmas Gifts
Just two weeks before Christmas!
Throughout the year, I receive inspiration from everyone who supports my writing efforts by reading my books and reading my posts on this website and also on the Vitruvian Man and Tucson Poverello House websites. Your comments, reviews and feedback are invaluable to me. Your words keep me energized, particularly when my batteries run low. As a gesture of my appreciation, I am pleased to offer these two gifts
- The Christmas Story from Gaspar, Another Tale of the Christ as a PDF download and
- The Christmas Story from Gaspar, Another Tale of the Christ as an audio presentation produced by my friend and business associate Alistair McKenzie.
A Special thanks to Alistair for producing this audio AND for writing an original Christmas song “We All Know” featured at the conclusion of the narrative. His song captures the essence of the entire story of Gaspar in a very special way.
You have made my life better. I hope these small tokens of gratitude make your Christmas a bit more meaningful.
Your Grateful Friend,
Gene “E.S.” Kraay

The Christmas Story PDF

Giving Thanks
One of my favorite films is the 1992 version of James Fenimore Cooper’s classic Last of the Mohicans. The film opens as Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas chase down a deer for their meal. Before partaking of the animal, they kneel before its lifeless body and thank it for sharing itself with them. I think of that scene often as I try to slow my pace of eating in this hectic world we live in.
I used the scene early in Gaspar, Another Tale of the Christ as the young Gaspar journeys to Kanheri with his slave Androkles and his Indian guide Bhima
“… I have learned during the first two nights that no one will ever eat food in Bhima’s presence without first thanking whatever powers he believes in for furnishing us with this food … Tonight, I take a single bite and chew it unhurriedly, thinking about the field of wheat that offers me its grain. The wheat field rolls wave after effortless wave through my mind, powered by a soft breeze that flows in rhythm with the breath of the world. I take a second bite and imagine a smiling woman using the grain to make the dough. And so it goes as I picture the flowering lentil and thank it for giving me sustenance.”
On this Thanksgiving Day, I invite you to slow your pace and thank God for being a part of creation that generously shares itself with its brothers and sisters.
Mitakuye Oyasin.
A Spark
“See. God puts a spark on your heart and it bursts into flame. Ain’t Jesus grand!”
Alistair McKenzie
actor, musician, writer, director, producer
VP of Development, Hoplite Entertainment