Thursday, May 5, 2011
My Interview with Family Fiction
Family Fiction just posted its interview with me. Ronald Louis Peterson Q&A: Ron Peterson FamilyFiction.com
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The origin of A TIME TO...
We all see life and events in our lives differently for many reasons; often age and experience are major factors. In the case of an event like 9/11, American adults experienced it much differently than children because adults knew intuitively from their lives that 9/11 introduced a new kind of war in which American civilians suddenly found themselves in the middle of a scary global battlefield. As I struggled to come to terms with this new reality, I began to recognize that 9/11 had adversely affected me spiritually. It had threatened to kill some of my soul’s most prized possessions: love, faith, hope and charity. When I concluded that others probably felt the same way, I began to play around with story ideas that would address these issues in a positive way. The final result is my novel, A TIME TO ….
A TIME TO… is a story about Al Masterson, a baby boomer and a risk manager who worked in the World Trade Center on 9/11. It’s about an historic tragedy and a soul-searching metaphysical journey, about a child’s love and his special gift, about the killing of an enemy and the imprisonment of a friend, about losing faith and then finding it as a Peace Corps Volunteer thanks to a peasant girl in famine-stricken Ethiopia, about discovering the power of hope during the last days of an iconic African emperor, about being victimized by the treachery of a coworker and rising above it in an act of charity, and about discovering one’s soul. It’s about how Al’s life was changed forever by a spiritual adventure that culminated with an amazing, satisfying ending at ground zero.
A TIME TO… is a story about Al Masterson, a baby boomer and a risk manager who worked in the World Trade Center on 9/11. It’s about an historic tragedy and a soul-searching metaphysical journey, about a child’s love and his special gift, about the killing of an enemy and the imprisonment of a friend, about losing faith and then finding it as a Peace Corps Volunteer thanks to a peasant girl in famine-stricken Ethiopia, about discovering the power of hope during the last days of an iconic African emperor, about being victimized by the treachery of a coworker and rising above it in an act of charity, and about discovering one’s soul. It’s about how Al’s life was changed forever by a spiritual adventure that culminated with an amazing, satisfying ending at ground zero.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Reflections of a Baby Boomer
Much has been said about the Baby Boomer generation being an influential force in the world, but little has been said about how the world has influenced the lives of Baby Boomers. More has happened in the last 65 years than has happened in any other similar period in human history. The world has evolved and is evolving at a much faster pace than ever before and we are all trying to adjust to it.
Try to explain what growing up in the 50's and 60's was like to teenagers today and it would be like George Washington trying to explain to Boomers what life was like back in the 1700’s; it is that much different. One of the big changes in the world is that many Boomers are still in the prime of their lives thanks to improvements in health and nutrition. As a result, they are in a unique position to still shape the world of ideas if nothing else.
Boomers lived through the Cuban missile crisis, 9/11 and all the wars in between; through the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, Jr.; through the civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights movements; through cycles of unprecedented economic growth to a world economic crisis of historical proportions. Now, as the world gets smaller and smaller, Boomers find themselves reflecting on all of this; they want to make some sense of what they have lived and will live.
A TIME TO… is a story about a Boomer who thought he was about to die in an instant. In that moment before passing to the next world, scenes from his past flashed before him that focused on spiritual milestones which had shaped his life. This was a revelation because he had not fully appreciated that these events had been defining moments until they were mysteriously presented to him in this way.
Try to explain what growing up in the 50's and 60's was like to teenagers today and it would be like George Washington trying to explain to Boomers what life was like back in the 1700’s; it is that much different. One of the big changes in the world is that many Boomers are still in the prime of their lives thanks to improvements in health and nutrition. As a result, they are in a unique position to still shape the world of ideas if nothing else.
Boomers lived through the Cuban missile crisis, 9/11 and all the wars in between; through the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, Jr.; through the civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights movements; through cycles of unprecedented economic growth to a world economic crisis of historical proportions. Now, as the world gets smaller and smaller, Boomers find themselves reflecting on all of this; they want to make some sense of what they have lived and will live.
A TIME TO… is a story about a Boomer who thought he was about to die in an instant. In that moment before passing to the next world, scenes from his past flashed before him that focused on spiritual milestones which had shaped his life. This was a revelation because he had not fully appreciated that these events had been defining moments until they were mysteriously presented to him in this way.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hello, its Me
As if life didn't have enough unwanted surprises lurking around every corner, 9/11 provided another that had been unthinkable before. What could be worse than knowing that we all could be blown up, vaporized, while going about our everyday business?
It's a question that wouldn't leave me following 9/11 until I came up with a satisfying answer. The only thing worse, I finally concluded, would be living a life without love, faith, hope and charity. Before 9/11, I had taken these principles for granted, like the air we breath. All of a sudden I realized that they aren't a given, that unless we all nurture them in our lives, they would all just disappear. I couldn't bring myself to imagine that, so instead I imagined a story about how one man came to realize this truth with God's help.
God, that inner voice of ours so hard to discern at times and so easy to hear at others, has a way of teaching us critical lessons just when we need to hear Him most.
It's a question that wouldn't leave me following 9/11 until I came up with a satisfying answer. The only thing worse, I finally concluded, would be living a life without love, faith, hope and charity. Before 9/11, I had taken these principles for granted, like the air we breath. All of a sudden I realized that they aren't a given, that unless we all nurture them in our lives, they would all just disappear. I couldn't bring myself to imagine that, so instead I imagined a story about how one man came to realize this truth with God's help.
God, that inner voice of ours so hard to discern at times and so easy to hear at others, has a way of teaching us critical lessons just when we need to hear Him most.
Friday, June 18, 2010
What's Going On?
Now that I have posted many excerpts from A TIME TO... , in the coming months I want to share my thoughts about why I wrote it. I'll start by saying that it began with a whisper from God. At one time in my life if others said God whispered something to them, I would have raised my eyebrows and thought to myself, "OK, they are wacky."
Since then, I've come to understand that people don't mean (in most cases) God speaks to them with a human voice. He speaks to our spirits, because He is a spiritual being that lives in each of us, whether we know it or not. This gets a little tricky because some people receive spiritual messages and think it is God delivering them. The way to distinguish between God's voice and another's is by analyzing the message. If it promotes love, faith, hope & charity - it's God speaking. Otherwise, don't pay attention to it. This is where I think the terrorists got it wrong on 9/11.
Look for more insights about how/why A TIME TO... was written in the coming weeks and months. I'll also share comments I've received from readers.
Since then, I've come to understand that people don't mean (in most cases) God speaks to them with a human voice. He speaks to our spirits, because He is a spiritual being that lives in each of us, whether we know it or not. This gets a little tricky because some people receive spiritual messages and think it is God delivering them. The way to distinguish between God's voice and another's is by analyzing the message. If it promotes love, faith, hope & charity - it's God speaking. Otherwise, don't pay attention to it. This is where I think the terrorists got it wrong on 9/11.
Look for more insights about how/why A TIME TO... was written in the coming weeks and months. I'll also share comments I've received from readers.
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