All June of 2015 I studied 1 Kings, fascinated with Elisha, Ahab, and Elijah. In July I remembered James (5:17) “Elijah was a man with passions like ours.”
In the 1980s, I had visited Elijah’s home town in Gilead and walked his paths in the Jezreel Valley. I stood where he was exiled in Zarephath and enjoyed his view of snowy Mt. Hermon. I climbed Mt. Carmel where he called fire from Heaven. I worked a dig in the Arava where he may have paused on his flight from Jezebel. But did not find “Elijah was here” graffiti.
Elijah. Passions. Hmm…
- Did he have a temper?
- Get discouraged?
- Notice the ladies?
This could be fun.
What color was his beard? How tall was he? Did he have a family?
I pushed the neighbor’s cat off, opened my laptop, and wrote my first words of fiction.
