Secret #12: Find the Thread

The challenges before us may be extremely complex or seem too large for us to ever overcome - but they're not.  If you can find the right place to focus your efforts and apply your energy in just the right way, the entire structure, no matter how large it may be, will come tumbling down.

This concept was central to the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE) where a Greek force of 1,000 men (including the three hundred Spartans that inspired the movie 300) held off a Persian army approximately 300,000 strong.

In 1976, Betty Williams witnessed three children killed in front of her during the political turmoil in Northern Ireland.  In response, she went door-to-door and organized a peace march to the children's graves, an event which attracted 10,000 participants.  The march was disrupted by the Irish Republican Army who claimed that she and the marchers were tools of the British.  Unwilling to give in, just one week later, Ms. Williams organized a second march, this time 35,000 strong.  The same year she this receptionist and mother of two - a person no more remarkable than you or I - was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Berlin Wall came down.  Slavery was ended.  The Cold War drew to a close.  Apartheid is no more.  Each time we face a challenge that, by all rational measure seems beyond our ability to overcome, we somehow find the thread that unravels the entire weave.

Even in our darkest times - whether we are facing a massive invading army or children are being killed on our streets, there is always hope.  Always.  Margaret Meade once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  This concept is central to my second novel, The Awakening, which will be published tomorrow (May 13th).

"I need you to begin searching," he said, turning back to the bag of groceries. 

"Searching for what?" 

"For the end," he offered simply as he opened a box of breakfast bars. 

Jenny twisted her face into a grimace of playful disbelief.  "You'd think that would be front page news," she grinned. 

Nathaniel shook his head.  "Your people won't see the truth until it's reached its conclusion.  They will only understand the implication of the individual events when their world has come to an end and they can see how each strand of reality led to their destruction." 

Jenny stared at him.  "You talk like I'm not a part of them anymore." 

"You're not." 

The teen swallowed uncomfortably.  "So what exactly am I supposed to look for?" 

"Are you familiar with the prophecies of your early peoples?" 

She nodded with an ironic grin. "Lately, they’ve kept me awake at night." 

"Find the links between their words and the events of the modern world.  It's imperative that we locate the threads before the tapestry is complete." 

"And if we do?" 

Nathaniel sat beside her on the bed, holding her eyes with a serious gaze.  "Then we do our best to unravel it."

The Awakening (May 13, 2011) sets the stage for A Tide of Shadows (May 2012), which in turn builds to the climax found in Days of the Fallen (May 2013).  You can read the first three chapters online for free.  The Awakening will be published on Friday the 13th in both paperback and ebook formats.  You can order the autographed paperback edition directly from my Web site for $15 - which includes shipping via USPS Priority Mail.

Secret One: Aleph (May 1st)
Secret Two: The End (May 2nd)
Secret Three: Angels (May 3rd)
Secret Four: The Bloodline (May 4th)
Secret Five: Heaven and Hell (May 5th)
Secret Six: What Does God Look Like? (May 6th)
Secret Seven:  Working Miracles (May 7th)
Secret Eight: The Four Horsemen (May 8th)
Secret Nine: Small Town Mysteries (May 9th)
Secret Ten: Photographing the Paranormal (May 10th)
Secret Eleven: Blood on the Threshold (May 11th)
Secret Twelve: Find the Thread (May 12th)
Secret Thirteen: How Does the World End? (May 13th)