I am pleased to introduce my guest blogger, Alton Gansky, as he relates his "Story Behind the Story."
Writers are often asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” and we
do our best to avoid answering. Why? Because there is no one answer. Ideas can
come from a newspaper article, a dream, or just out of nowhere—like Odd
Thomas.
The recent release (re-release) of my first novel has me
recalling earlier days—days before I committed to writing a novel. BY MY HANDS
came to be about 20 years ago and the idea for it popped up from nowhere. Well,
not nowhere, but somewhere. I can remember the moment the nugget of the idea
came to me—and it’s a little embarrassing.
I was a young pastor, serving in my first church in San Diego. I
wish I could tell you I had it all figured out, but I can’t. I stumbled through
the first years of ministry, learning from oversights, mistakes, and blunders.
The first years of ministry are more educational for the pastor than for the
congregation. I learned a lot about myself. More than I wanted to know.
This came home when I received a call. A young child of one of
my parishioners had fallen out of a moving car. The girl was about four years
old. You can guess the kind of images that came to mind: gruesome, frightening,
and heartbreaking. The caller had no other information other than the youngster
was at Children’s Hospital. It’s a world-class facility but even world-class
hospitals can’t do miracles.
I drove to Children’s Hospital, my gut wadded into a tight, hard
ball. I parked and ran into the facility. It was my first time there. I had
never been in a children’s hospital. Never. The halls were shiny and smells of
disinfectant, medications, and other things I didn’t want to know about hung in
the air. Many of the doorways into patient rooms and wards were open and I
glanced in some as I passed. One was a playroom where a dozen children played
quietly together. All of them were bald.
A few steps later I noticed something different about myself. I
was no longer glancing in the rooms. I was looking at the shiny floor and
nothing else. Shame washed over me. I plowed on until I made it to the room
with my parishioners inside. I stiffened my spine and entered.
Good news. The child who had fallen from the moving car had only
a couple of scrapes and a bruise or two. It turns out the car was moving very
slowly when the tyke figured out how to open the door. This being the days
before mandatory car seats, she managed to exit the vehicle. A frightening
event for everyone, but one that ended well. She went home later that day—the
bald children in the playroom did not.
I was relieved, a little wrung out, and very angry with myself.
I had been shown my own cowardice, my reluctance to look on the pain of others.
Better to avert my eyes than see reality, I thought. By the time I
exited the hospital, I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I wished I could
do something for the kids imprisoned by their disease. I wished for the power
of healing.
I have very little patience with modern faith healers. I believe
God works miracles, but I have serious doubt that He does it through people in
expensive suits cavorting around a stage in front of television cameras.
“If I had the gift of healing, this hospital would be my first
stop.”
BAM.
There was the idea. I began to wonder what it would look like if
someone truly had the gift of healing began healing people in a major hospital.
This led to a string of questions and some deep theology.
Elements of the story presented themselves one after another.
What if the healer worked secretly? Instead of calling attention to himself,
what if he snuck in, healed someone, then snuck out in the same manner in which
he came? Why would he do that? Who would he heal? What would happen to the
hospital when word got out? What would doctors do if forced to face a true
miracle? What would happen if the healed suddenly disappeared under violent
circumstances?
By the time I reached home, the seed of an idea had grown roots.
Years later, By My Hands would find a publisher. Now, 20 years later
it’s back—it’s new all over again.
Watch for his January release of 30 Events that Changed the Church!
Other books by Alton Gansky.
