An Empty Ache

In this novel, Christian parables are interpreted in a fourfold way to remedy a comment made by a now-deceased aunt. The front cover design of this book reflects the loving gesture to the aunt. In the design, vibrant, delicate blue light suggests enlightenment emerging in the midst of black, widespread shadow, indicating a psychological state of "being in the dark," unaware, not knowing, without understanding.

Novel 3 of 4 in the series Scrapbooks of the Soul

Scrapbooks of the Soul is a series of four novels asking big questions about being alive. The stories are about hermeneutic habits, our habits of interpretation. These novels tell how we humans interpret ourselves, others, and all of life.

The word hermeneutic is from the name Hermes in Greek mythology. Hermes had the complex task of delivering the messages of the gods to mortals, which meant he first had to interpret for himself what the gods were saying, and then translate the message in such a way that mortals could understand.

The four novels show that humans have the same complex task as Hermes. We are hermeneuts whether or not we want to be, for in the ordinariness of life, we always and everywhere infer, deduce, discern, and decide, what our experiences "mean" or if they mean nothing, which is itself an interpretation.

Our interpretations form who we are, and vice versa, who we are greatly influences our interpretations. What we see is largely part of how we see. Indeed, life is a scrapbook of our interpretations and the interpretations of others which affect us.