Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Genghis Khan, and Golyat the Pharisee

Seeing great events from the margins is the guiding premise of Witnesses and Stone Thrower. Consider: in modern times, photos and video evidence add credence and cement the event as real. Going back many hundreds of years, history books tell us of events; paintings, diaries, mosaics, and oral histories color the scenes.

But they only tell part of the story. To fully comprehend, many points of view need to be fleshed out to be understood.

When Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, did his valet see him crumble sheets of paper and throw them on the floor as he searched for just the right words? Surely those responsible for his safety heard the speech while scanning the crowd for threats. What were their thoughts?

George Washington crossed the Delaware to ambush the enemy. Did he sleep the night before? When he addressed his generals, did they see a confident leader or a humble man?

Further back in time, what did Genghis Khan’s advisors see when Khan was killing and raping his way across the known world? What would the villagers he terrorized and the peasants he recruited into his army say if they could speak?

You get the idea.

I’ve chosen to write about the ordinary and forgotten people—the ones who witnessed the miraculous.

In Whatever That Means, time and space collide as the miraculous and the mundane occur at the same time. How was it that Golyat the Pharisee came to be in that exact place, at that exact moment in John the Baptizer’s ministry?

Highly esteemed in his social circles, he’s a scholar, a devout follower, perhaps a wealthy merchant or a respected craftsman. He’s attained the pinnacle of Judaism. For him, the sky’s the limit. Though unmarried, he was almost certainly being “shopped around” by his parents for a suitable wife—one whose family would add to and preserve their wealth and prestige. Then his life intersects with John the Baptizer, and his world goes into free fall.

The curious Golyat spends time listening to John the Baptizer.

Inwardly, John’s message makes sense. Outwardly, Jewish customs demand obedience. Either way, life is demanding a decision: take the easy path to a comfortable life or listen to his heart.

The tension grows, creating an internal conflict only a miraculous moment will settle.

What finally settled it for him is something I explore in the story. I won’t give it away here.