It really shouldn’t have taken this long, but to be fair, it started as a single book and
turned into a trilogy.
The birth, or rather conception, of The Swaddling Series, began when I
was carrying out some research on angels. They fascinated me and during the
research; I realised how much more angelic activity there was during the birth of
Christ. This made me wonder why.
Many people see the nativity story as a fairy tale. You can’t blame them. The story
arc is similar. The main protagonist has an enormous setback, a young girl
unmarried and pregnant. Joseph becomes the hero, marrying her. Then they travel
for a week on a donkey and then the only accommodation is a smelly stable for the
birth. Then a sudden twist, singing angels tell the shepherds to visit them and the
crowing glory is the three wise men arriving with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. They narrowly miss death by escaping to Egypt. The perfect fairy tale.
I reasoned that if God’s son was to save the world, then God would need to protect
him from evil forces, and who better than his very own army of angels?
Following my study of angels, I was drawn to investigate the Magi, often referred to
as the Three Kings and even the Three Wise Men, depending on which version of
the Bible you read.
Little is known about the Magi and while researching them, I discovered a gospel I
hadn’t read before. The first Gospel of the INFANCY of JESUS CHRIST. It didn’t
make it into the bible and for very good reasons. Some theologians consider it the
work of Gnostics and some think that Joseph the high-priest, called by some
'Caiaphas', wrote it. But we will probably never know for sure. In any event, it is not
reliable.
However, I was intrigued by chapter III…
‘And it came to pass, when the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem, a city of Judea in
the time of Herod the King; the wise men came from the East to Jerusalem,
according to the prophecy of Zoradascht (Zoroaster), and brought with them their
offerings: namely, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worshipped him, and offered to
him their gifts. v2 Then the Lady Mary took one of his swaddling clothes in which the
infant was wrapped and gave it to them instead of a blessing, which they received
from her as a most noble present.’
Later, the Magi discovered it had supernatural powers to heal and it was
indestructible and verse 10 said, ‘ Then they took it, and with the greatest respect
laid it up among their treasures.’
Although I knew the account was discredited, the thought persisted. Imagine if it did
exist. What if you could find the place where they laid it up among their treasures?
What would someone pay for The Swaddling Cloth with the power to heal?
This was the beginning of the book, The Search for the Swaddling Cloth. The main
protagonist is an archaeologist called Melody Thornton. An academic entering a
surreal world of deception and danger.
Here’s a thought though. If she found it, what would the consequence be? Think
about it, if you had the means to heal, who would you choose to heal and what about
those you wouldn’t?
What would the rules be?
Find out in The Search for the Healing Cloth, a brand new historical Christian fiction novel.
It is always so important to be curious. And to remain curious! Thanks Phil for doing just that “life long” and sharing wonder and new openings with us!