If you remember right, I only intervened in the physical realm one other time in this story—to save baby Adri from the mob that was coming for Nellie. When we pick up the story of Adri another time, you’ll see why this was so terribly necessary.
For now, I touch the cooled metal heart and trace the crown of thorns with the tips of my left fingers. This kind of place is one of those Centers around which everything moves and out of which everything is created—the sort of place where pain, blood, and redemption cross paths to meet. And keep meeting. And will always meet. If you’re in a hurry to finish the story, you might want to stop and reread this paragraph before moving on. I guarantee it’ll be worth your while.
If anyone or anything tries to curse or kill the Goodness in the Center of all things, it will just keep coming back to life. Forever Easter. For Nellie. For you. True Goodness is unsinkable.
And once you’ve been to this Center, this Truth, you’ll know your way everywhere. You are never lost again.
Twice, then. We intervened twice in this story. So far.
Let me tell you a secret. If you are old enough to read this book, we have intervened in your life at least twice. Your story makes no sense without this fact.
And we will intervene again.
And again.
And something you have might go missing and appear somewhere else where it is needed.
Come and awaken to this Truth.
And never, ever go back to sleep.
________________
*
“O Sacred Head Now Wounded”
The Blackberry Bush
is basically a story about Josh and Kati, both born the day the Berlin Wall falls in 1989, and their coming of age and understanding.
As with all births, there is a big backstory, reaching to the generation of their great-grandparents struggling through the Second World War. We are all products of an extensive root system, whether we believe it or acknowledge it.
Both Kati and Josh have Dutch and German heritage. Both spend time living in California and along the Rhine River in Europe.
Kati spends her first decade in Europe; Josh in California. Then, seemingly randomly, they swap places around the time of the World Trade Center attacks.
Kati struggles with the dark side of disapproval from others. Josh struggles with the dark side of talent and competition. Their broken responses to impossible demands ensnare them in the all-too-common human condition of self-entrapment. They find themselves in need of rescue.
They also awaken to locating their place in the relational “Olympic torch relay” of generational blessings in a season of waning spirituality in the Western World.
Guided especially by wise grandparents, they begin to unpack, over the years, both their heritage and their destiny, their roots and their wings.
Euclid, the Greek geometer, taught us ages ago that perfectly parallel lines never meet. Since Josh’s and Kati’s lines are not perfectly parallel, they do meet…for a brief moment. And that seemingly random moment (ah, but if you’ve read the book you now know that is not so) is what changes the trajectory of each of their lives forever.
Great to work through alone; best in a group, book club, or classroom setting
Level One
1. Josh loved Adri, and Kati loved Harald—their grandparents. What is/was your relationship with your grandparents like? With which older person have you been the closest in life? Why were you attracted to that person?
2. If this story was a movie and you were in charge of casting, whom would you choose to play the different characters? Explain.
3. Who do you believe the narrator was? Have you ever had an encounter with someone where an “angel option” is the best explanation? Share the story.
4. Josh has skills and abilities that set him apart from others. Has that ever been painful for you? Have you ever hidden a gift because it would make others uncomfortable? If so, tell what happened. Why do some people—especially teens—“dumb down” to become more popular? What does it cost them in the long run?
5. If you have a best friend, what is the biggest tension between the two of you? Kati struggled with jealousy with Zara. Joshua’s competition with Max turned ugly. How do you handle the tensions in your relationship?
6. See how many times you can find the imagery of the blackberry bush in the story. What does the “blackberry bush” mean to you?
7. Which character in the novel would you love to spend more time with? Why?
8. Nellie was tarred and feathered for fraternizing with the occupying German enemy army. Why do you think the punishments for treason were so severe?
9. If you were a citizen of an occupying country and it looked as though that invading country would win, how would you respond? Would you consider—for the good of your family perhaps—collaborating with the occupying military? Would you just keep your head down and hope no one notices you? Or would you resist against the invading army? Explain.
10. Josh had a favorite painting. Do you? If so, what is it, and why do you love it? How does it “speak” to you?
11. Kati struggled most of her life with the way she looks. What, do you think, leads to the fact that growing girls, especially, deal with so much body image pressure? If you are a girl/woman, how do you handle it?
12. Josh avoids organized sports while growing up. What are some of the good things and bad things about youth sports? Can they be overdone? What experience(s) have you or those you know had to back your thoughts?
13. Josh continued to doodle the ThornHeart and octagons for years on end. Are there patterns that you sketch over and over? If so, describe them. Why do they have a hold on you?
14. How much pressure have you felt from your parents to achieve their dreams for you? How much of it is real and how much is in your mind?
15. Josh’s and Kati’s future lives in 2031 are a little different than the world we live in. What do you think will be better in the next generation? What do you think will be worse? What one thing would you change about the way young people grow up, in order to make the world a better place?
16. If you were to write a sequel to this book, what characters would you include? What would the story line be?
Level Two
1. Josh and Kati were born in very dramatic historical times of great change. What are the special challenges of the generation born around 1990? What are their special advantages?
Is this your generation? If so, what does the rest of the population misunderstand about your age-group?
2. Linda and Konrad in Germany, and Janine and Michael in California were giving birth when the Wall came down in 1989. Where were you when the Berlin Wall fell (if you were alive at the time)?
Are you familiar with the geography of Cold War Europe? Have you heard the term
Iron Curtain
? If so, what does it mean to you? How would life have differed on each side of the Wall?
3. Kati and Josh struggle with finding freedom in their lives. Do you believe in predestination? Are there multiple possible futures or only one? If there is a God who knows the future, can there really be more than one possible future?
What do the following words mean to you:
fate, destiny, determinism
?
4. Where were you during the World Trade Center attack (if you were alive at the time)? What do you remember thinking and feeling? What two or three things have changed for everyone since then? Have we, as a society, regained our balance since then? Why or why not?
5. Josh loved to skateboard, surf, and snowboard. How much of this do you think was a reaction against his father’s more conventional sports life, and how much was genuinely because he loved those sports? Why is it hard to tell where our preferences come from for doing what we do?
6. Kati and Josh were raised going to church. What are the upsides and downsides of such a childhood? Why do you think this seems to be declining in the Western world? Is that good or bad for society?
7. Kati and Josh both attended some lively churches. What is the most interesting church you’ve attended (if you’ve been to one)? Why? What makes the difference between a church that is “alive” and one that is “dead”? What one thing could a church change to make you want to come back?
8. Josh develops his ability to be present in “lucid” dreams while he is asleep. Are you aware that you are dreaming while it’s happening? Explain, using your own experience.
9. Nellie faces hatred and brutality at the tar-and-feather incident. For those of you who have never experienced such an event, is it hard to believe that these things really happen? Do you think all human beings possess the potential for brutality given the right conditions? Why or why not? Could you picture yourself becoming part of a mob like the one that attacked Nellie? Explain.
10. Kati struggled with alcohol abuse. Why do you think church people have a hard time talking about alcohol? Many of them just edit all references to it out of their language. Since Jesus made copious amounts of wine at the wedding in Cana, why do his followers today have such a fixation on alcohol as a negative thing? If you are in a church, how do you handle discussions of alcohol as a group?
11. Do you speak other languages? Do you have extended family members who have first languages other than English? Do you think more people will become at least bilingual in the future? Why or why not?
12. Zarzamora is the one fictional city in the novel. It’s in California. Look up the literary roots for California’s name. California is the world center for media and popular storytelling. Do you think this has been a good thing or a bad thing for the world? Explain.
13. Walter and Nellie defied family, morals, and national ethics—but good eventually came from their poor choices. What’s the best thing you’ve seen come out of something that started out wrong? Tell the story.
14. Both Nellie and Josh crossed the line and deliberately chose to do something that most of us would consider wrong. It was not just a mistake in either case. Are you comfortable talking to others about deliberate ethical “felonies” you’ve committed, or do you keep such things to yourself? Why?
15. Kati faced drowning at the Cliffs. What’s the closest you’ve come to death? Did you bargain with God? Tell the story.
16. In the epilogue, both Josh and Kati have large families of their own, but they come from family lines with very few children. Do you think families can get too small? Would children be better adjusted, in general, with more siblings or with fewer? Explain your reasoning.
17. How have your parents’ dreams for you influenced you for the good and for the bad throughout your life thus far? If you are an adult, how has your relationship with your parents changed since your growing-up days?
18. Kati’s volunteering with the kids at the church led to her adult vocation. When have you seen your own—or anyone else’s—avocation turn into a career?
19. This book has a lot of Christian content. Does that make it, in your mind, a “Christian book”? Or is it just literature with Christian themes? Would you recommend it to your local high school for an English class reading list? Why or why not? Do you think we can have books with spiritual content in the public marketplace, or do they have to be “sanitized”? Explain.
20. Kati’s Opa Harald states that we “are in the presence of a God who speaks.” Have you ever received a message, in any form, that you believe was from God? How do you think God prefers communicating with us?
21. Has a minor event in your life ever led to a whole new destiny? If so, share the story.
22. Saahir calls Jesus “Isa.” Are there different names out there for the same God, or do different names denote totally different realities? Can any faith system claim to be exclusively genuine? Is it really possible to say that all faith systems are the same?
23. For Josh and Kati, their faith came alive as the story went on. What do you think it means to be “saved,” and when do you think each of them, if you believe they did, crossed that line? Is salvation a process or an event? Is it possible to say yes to a lot of truths about God without being “saved”?
24. Which of your ancestors was carrying a torch of faith for the family? Was it passed on to you, or do you have to light your own? Explain.
25. Of everyone in your sphere of influence—family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors—which one person would benefit most from reading this story? Why do you think that?
Then pass it along!
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Is this book autobiographical?
No. I identify with a tiny piece of each of the characters and occasionally am repelled by them. I came up with the thirteen main characters before writing the plot and developed them in great detail before letting them interact with each other. Some have taken on a life of their own and started doing things in the book I didn’t like. Adri intimidates me, so I didn’t give her much airtime in this book. That will come in a later volume. All this being said and getting back to the question, everything in every novel comes out of the author’s head.
You seem very familiar with the geography. What’s with that?