Sunday, May 22, 2011
Introduction :Alien Love
What This Is (and Is Not)
Hello. My name is Kevin Abell. You probably gathered that after reading the name on the front cover. Before you dive in to this book about love, there are some things that I would like to share with you. I want to do this in order to make sure that you aren’t being set up for disappointment. You might end up feeling let down regardless, but I can’t stand the thought of you continuing on in search of something that isn’t here.
I don’t know why you read books. Out of the few books that I have read, many seem to be little more than long essays. They are designed in order to try and reveal some grave injustice at work in the world and show us the way to address it. Some books are written as a call to arms or to advocate a course of action. Others are informative. This work is none of the above.
If you are looking at this for information, you will probably become disenchanted. To be completely forthcoming, this book is no more about love than my last book was about healing. My last book had the appearance of a book about healing, and that’s exactly how many people received it. At the heart of this work, as well as my last, is a signpost which is meant to move us towards Jesus.
What you are holding in your hands is this; A Journey. A journey is much different than an essay. An essay is written by someone who believes that they know enough about a topic in order to inform and convince you of their thesis. I beg you not to proceed in this way because I know how disappointing it can be when you purchase a product that doesn’t do what you thought it was supposed to do.
Before you read further, please address this question. Are you willing to set out on a journey? If you aren’t, if you are expecting this to go in a certain direction, either to the right or to the left, you won’t likely find what you are looking for.
On The Word Love Itself
Whether by design, or poor recognition, authentic love has become an elusive phenomenon. It is a word that we use to describe our affection for everything from iced cream to our boyfriend. It seems to be something that we both receive as well as something that can be made. I don’t know how it got this way. Overall, love is a word which is unable to capture all that it was intended to describe. It carries with itself so much baggage that we really don’t know what to do with it.
Whenever a person speaks on love, it’s always difficult to know exactly what they mean. We tend to confuse it with human sexuality and romance. The word might be in reference to affection. It is often used to describe acts of kindness.
I don’t know exactly who has the power to make up words, nor do I know who authenticates the decision. I do know that the word was destined for failure. If you are reading through the Bible, depending on whether you are reading through a text which has been written in Greek or Hebrew, there are approximately 20 different words that might form the foundation for what is written on the page before you.
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Love it! Is the title of the book actually Alien Love? (The picture's cute too!) This intro challenges the reader and makes them expectant. It makes them ask "Do I really want to read this?" and at the same time "I want to know what this is all about!" It makes you excited to read something new.
ReplyDeleteDo you have an idea of when this book will be published? I'm definitely looking forward to it!
I am hoping to have it in print before Christmas. I'm would like to keep the title, but it really isn't set in stone.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you're looking forward to it. I've been very hesitant to pursue this one because I have a hard time accepting that many people might say, 'Gee. It's not as good as his first one.'
I think I'm past the fear of rejection and have the sense that I need to proceed, even if it isn't a literary masterpiece. Thank you so much for your continued encouragement!
It's possible that people may not like it as much as the last one, but what if people like it more? And you're also dealing with a different topic as well. It doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece. The important thing is being able to get your message across in such a way that it will affect people.
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