Pearls of Wisdom: Pearls of Wisdom, #1

By Michael D'Aigle

FUN, INSPIRING, AND "UNCONVENTIONAL"... This book is an "assignment" God gave me. Write stories, and poems, and other things that all contain a "pearl of wisdom"; and that can be read on the "fly". I honestly believe I can tell you, I fulfilled my "heavenly assignment".   This book is designed for this fast paced generation, with twists and turns that are all designed to make the reader's journey amusing, and provocative at the same time.

  I know God has a sense of humor, and I'm sure you will discover that within the pages of this little book. Most of the ideas and thoughts are borne out of my own experiences before and after becoming a Christian; and I'm certain you will never look at the Bible, the subject of Christianity, or yourself in the same way ever again!  . I pray this small book draws all who read it's pages - closer to God, and to those you love here on earth.

Blessings to all who read this book,

 

Michael D'Aigle

a.k.a. scribe4god

• Language: English
• Publisher: Light In The Dark Publishing
• Release date: Feb 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224399628

Book preview

DEDICATION

To my best friend, Jesus Christ – Who is the one that breathed these stories and words into my being...

To my lovely wife, Debbie who has always been there for me; every step of this wonderful journey. Listening, encouraging, and just being there to cheer me on.

To my sister, Bobbi White, who was instrumental in my coming to Christ – I can never thank her enough.

To all of those persons who have written their  wisdom upon my heart... pastors, friends, family, and passing acquaintances – and unnamed strangers that have crossed my path.

Finally, to all those who have gone before us...

Heb.12:1-3  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ...

LET US RUN TO WIN THE PRIZE...

note: all scriptures from NKJV, unless  otherwise denoted

* use of the asterisk denotes a comment displayed elsewhere,usually at the end of paragraph or bottom of page.

HOW THIS BOOK CAME TO BE...

Let me first begin by telling you the reader, that while this was my first book (I'm now finishing my 3rd book); it was not my first published written work.  For decades I have been composing songs from a Christian perspective, and have been blessed to have my songs played to millions of people all over the world.

My mantra or artist name is: fool4christ, so for me writing words and lyrics is at this time simply a part of my DNA; and is truly a labor of love and for me just comes very naturally and with very little difficulty.  I say that not because I have arrived, not hardly; but only to say that when this book began I was truly a novice and rookie when it came to knowing anything about writing a book... any kind of book for that matter!

When writing a song, inspiration can come from anywhere – a sign when driving down the highway,  a movie or song that just happens to cross your senses; a picture, sound, memory; and a myriad of things too many too list here, but I'm sure you get my drift.  With that in mind,  I thought it might make this book more enjoyable if you knew how this book: Pearls of Wisdom, came to be.

While working for GM in Michigan (I'm no longer working there), I was working a very mundane and boring series of jobs on the assembly line where trucks are assembled and shipped all over the world. I remember God speaking to me during those days of monotonous and repetitive jobs that I was doing over and over again.  (At this point, you may not believe God still speaks to human beings directly; but He does)

God began to tell me that He wanted me to begin writing a series of short stories and other articles; along with poems, pictures, and other things that would be geared for this fast paced generation. This would be a book that people could read on the fly, and get a spiritual nugget of truth or pearl of wisdom that they could relate to without having to wade through a long and lengthy read.

So, it was at that time that ideas for short stories came to me like a flood; so quickly in fact that I was able to write down in just a few minutes(in less than an hour as I remember)more than 40 ideas with titles for a vast assortment of short stories. To say I was excited would not be strong enough, I can tell you I was elated and knew without a doubt that God was directing me to begin writing these stories.

Call it a holy unction a special anointing,  or simply a call to a specific task God wanted me to do; the point was clear to me: God wanted me to start writing these stories. What began as a witness in my spirit and mind, would soon become the basis for my first book: Pearls of Wisdom.

Not knowing at first that these stories would become a book, (I had never written a book before), I just simply started to write and write, write, write! My first short story, which I really sensed was really a modern day parable geared for this generation;  was written if probably a few hours. The title: What Is The Worst Thing That Can Happen To A Person?

Choosing the right scriptures, pictures, and words to express a spiritual truth in ways that someone may have never considered is not easy; so my reliance on The Holy Spirit in writing every part of this book was key, and I knew that.  My work as a Christian singer/songwriter helped; and being a husband and father of two boys allowed me to relate to family relationships when writing as well.

At the time this book was being written, my wife and I were actively involved in doing jail/prison and homeless ministry; so some of the stories in this book are real life experiences borne out of our time doing active – front line ministry.

Adding to that is the fact that as a young man from a broken home; I lived for a short time on the streets hitch-hiking across the U.S., and know what it's like to be cold, hungry, alone and far away from any semblance of security.  All of these experiences – the good, the bad, and the ugly, in my life, came to bear when I was writing this book.

Finally, I have to admit when it came to the technical side of writing, I had little formal training or education.  That was surely my Achilles's heal, but being the obstinate and stubborn person that I am when I finally commit to something; I just plowed ahead come what may...

I did go on to college to study writing, and did above average work; but was certainly not  remarkable or extraordinary in my mind; but was able to learn to type, and discovered what great literature and writing consists of.  With a good foundation to start from, I now had one last hurdle to address: how to do the actual writing, editing, and preparation needed to actually have a book published.

I spent about 2 years studying the publishing industry from top to bottom. Without going into the minutia, or weeds, let me just say I realized it was possible to have a book published and marketed to millions of people, without having to spend one penny.  Hmm -  well not one penny to a major publishing company.

Once I discovered I could publish a book and have it distributed on a mass scale with no up front money, I was excited and motivated to go the final phase of publishing my first book that you are now reading.  That phase would prove to be the most difficult of all.

So knowing nothing about how to prepare a book manuscript for print, or a manuscript for an eBook or Kindle; I began the slow and tedious task of learning how to write, format, and submit a book manuscript for print or digital readers.  I must admit,  at this time I'm still learning as I go; and have watched too many tutorials online to count,  and more how to articles than I care to admit.

My first publishing of this book, was fair at best, but was still a good read I believe, not because of the editing or formatting prowess displayed on the book's pages; but rather the content inside that I believe God gave me – is worthy of anyone's time. Of course that is for you and each reader to decide...

I believe this 2nd edition/reedit, is much more polished and also a better read in terms of the way it is laid out. My prayer is that anyone reading this book comes away thinking about God, The Bible, and Christianity – and life in general in ways that they may have never considered.

With that thought in mind, I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did writing it. I'm currently working on my 3rd book/THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, with my co-writer: Bill Rivera; and my 2nd book: OUT OF THE DARKNESS, is now out and available in both print & digital formats.

If you enjoyed this book, please share it with someone and keep the stories going! 

CH.1  What Is The Worst Thing That Can Happen To A Person?

A Professor of Philosophy, at a small town Midwest community college; put forth the following assignment to his students just prior to their start of Spring break.  Class, in 1500 words or less, please answer the following question: What is the worst thing that can happen to a person? 

He went on to say, Please defend your position with credible examples,and a reasonable defense to support your thesis.  The students, were expected to have the assignment finished, and on the professor's desk upon their return from Spring break.

After returning from Spring break, the professor began the lengthy and arduous task of reading and grading the student's papers.  The professor was amused, astonished, and in a few cases aghast at the horrible and unspeakable stories presented by his students.  As one might expect, he read of ghastly accounts of torture(being skinned alive, electrocuted and beaten to death,etc), raped(every possible scenario), and other loathsome descriptions of various human suffering that each student felt was in their minds: The worst possible thing that could happen to a person.

Having to watch your family murdered right before your very eyes, being forced to destroy a whole bus full of people by blowing it up, and one student's gory depiction of being eaten alive by insects , with only your head being exposed above the hot desert sand... on and on, the professor read with disgust and ever growing disdain, the detailed and gruesome stories of worst case scenarios.  The professor was looking forward to the end of this assignment, it was turning out to be a very unpleasant task... and thankfully, he was almost finished . He only had three papers left to review.

The professor waded through the first two papers, and breathed a deep sigh of relief as he eyed the last paper he would have to read...  he winced as he noticed the name at the top of the paper; Mary Harding, the one student the professor truly disliked.  Mary was a devout, uncompromising Christian, who openly challenged the professor, whenever he began to promote his atheistic and humanistic beliefs in  the  class- room.  What really irked the professor, is that Mary was a true intellectual, and was more than a match for his intimidating assaults on religion, but especially  - Christianity. On more than one occasion, he had been embarrassed by Mary's forceful display of history, religion, and philosophy; he had to admit  Mary was probably the smartest student he had ever seen... this only made him disdain her all the more.

To say the professor was curious as to how Mary would answer this question, would be a gross understatement - he hesitated for a brief  time, and then quickly turned the cover page to read the following ... His' eyes zeroed in  on  what few words he could find on Mary's summary to his' thesis question.

There in the middle of the page were these words in large bold type:

TO DIE IN YOUR SINS

The professor was flooded with a sea of emotions... anger, amazement, bewilderment - how dare Mary make such a radical assertion!  Of all the answers the professor had read, he was not prepared for this. Cursing aloud, and jumping to his feet, the professor tossed Mary's paper into the air, and screamed, Mary - this time you've crossed the line!!!

The professor refused to read Mary's paper any further, his seething anger now a boiling rage; he sat at his desk and just stared at the wall mumbling: How dare she...  how dare she... how dare she... 

As is the case with human curiosity, it got the best of the professor, and within days he decided he would quickly skim through Mary's paper - if for no other reason than to ridicule and discredit her religious fanaticism -  make no mistake, this is one paper that the professor intended to fill with red ink .  Mary's paper would receive the full wrath of the professor, and she would pay for her obvious desire to once again push her religious dogma on the world - her fate was all but certain.

Turning his attention once again to Mary's paper, the professor was surprised to find that there was only a few paragraphs for him to read... and much to his displeasure - they weren't even Mary's words, they were scriptures from the bible.

There below the bold type: TO DIE IN ONE'S SINS,  were three passages that the professor slowly began to read aloud:

JOHN 8:23-24/Jesus speaking -  And He said to them, "You are from beneath;