Ruth M. Penksa

Finding God in the Rubble of Numbers Ruth M. Penksa

As I thought of writing a second book my mind drifted toward a theme to draw out my thoughts. I don't know when numbers** became the tool, the angle I'd use to tell my stories. Perhaps it was my frequent trips down Hertel Avenue that suggested the use of numbers. I would glance to the left at a small shop and memories of my dad and his watch repair shop would quickly emerge. Vivid pictures flashed in my mind's eye- dad bent over his work bench or standing in front of the shop near a window marked "Jewelry Repair" Today my eye rests on the number- 638 . . . the same number, the address of the shop of my memories. The first episode I wrote thus emerged- "638 The Watchmaker's Shop" It was a deciding moment. I would reach into my life to tell the stories based on the numbers that would be associated with each. Thus I began to seek out those numbers. They might refer to dates, years, months, addresses, age, room numbers, school numbers, grades in school, a count of items or people . . . and on and on. The point- each provoked a story to tell. However, the real story- the story intended for the reader is hidden in the scriptural reflection that follows each episode. Here the reader is exposed to the Word of God. Here the reader will find the place for his story and is able to find God in the rubble of his own life and numbers if he but listen. . . . Although each episode is related to a number, they were written randomly. The reader will read them in numerical order beginning with "1" and ending with . . . " Something came to my attention as I was well into writing. I received an email that asked the question: "Do you know why 1 is "one" 2 is "two" 3 is "three" 4 is "four" . . . I enjoyed the logic that traced them 1-9. that attached number with its numeral. The answer is "There are angles" Very interesting is: "0" For a peek at numbers from this angle, for your information- be it fact or fiction, I have included pictu