The Inheritance of Greatness
Christopher Michael Holms
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, July 25, 2012)
How do I pass on to my children the legacy of a man who meant the world to me and taught me so much now that he is gone? This is the question I had asked myself after the death of my grandfather and mentor, Alfred Holms. Sitting alone one night I began typing a letter to my grandfather asking him to help me to remember the things that he had taught me so that I could pass them on. What was meant to be a private meditation instead blossomed into the creation of Thomas Carver and with him, The Inheritance of Greatness. Thomas Carver is a fourteen year old boy growing up in Fairfield, Connecticut during the year 1809 and has done his best to follow his family"s expectations of him entering the priesthood. As the New England autumn darkens the skies, so, too does Thomas? thoughts and feelings as he unexpectedly embarks on a journey into manhood. One afternoon, after another incident with neighborhood bullies, Thomas arrives home to find his grandfather waiting to take him through Fairfield, Saugatuck and Norwalk where Thomas meets his grandfather's friends who become his mentors. Thomas comes to understand that the anger inside of him is a manifestation of his own fears about who he has been trying to be for everyone but himself. Thomas' mentors teach him that he must inherit the greatness that is bestowed upon all young men by God, the chance to be great. As the young man gains an understanding of himself as a farm boy, a journeyman, a poet, a blacksmith, a witness of death and finally a knight he enters the Great Watch where he takes part in a secret ritual that solidifies his inheritance from God in a faithful and spell binding way. Step inside and join Thomas on his journey as stories of ancient Greek, Celtic and Norse mythology intertwine their forgotten wisdom with the faith that our hero has seemed to have misunderstood. "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness could not comprehend it." John 1:5