Elton Higgs

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  Probing Eyes : Poems Of A Lifetime, 1959-2019

  $16.99

  Probing Eyes is a collection of 156 poems written over a period of 60 years by a Christian professor of English literature. The first and largest section is called “Scriptural Extensions,” and it seeks to throw fresh light on various Scriptural situations by either projecting the personality of a character though a dramatic monologue or offering a fresh slant on the events depicted. These poems proceed from asking the question, “I wonder what this biblical character was thinking in the midst of these events.” The second section, “Interactions,” presents some of the author’s experiences in interfacing with others, from family and friends to people only casually known. The third section, “Perspectives on Time, consists of poems written mostly as New Year’s meditations, dealing with how we as Christians are affected by the passage of time; while the inexorable flow of time reminds of our finiteness and mortality, it also challenges us to understand how God, Who is timeless, is master of our limitations. The final section, “Personal and Meditative,” is a miscellanea of personal and occasional ruminations, some serious and others playful. The book has four indexes to facilitate finding a poem by title, chronological placement, Scriptural reference, or topic. The author hopes that these poems will thus lend themselves to use for private Bible study and sermon or worship application. The most fruitful reading of the poems, especially of those for which a Scriptural reference is given, will come from a careful look at the relevant biblical texts.

  This book is not presented as the work of a main-stream poet, for Prof. Higgs has pursued his poetry writing as an avocation, not a profession. He has opted for clarity over artistic sophistication, which may not commend him to contemporary critics and practitioners of poetic composition. At the same time, the author aspires to go beyond the kind of religious versification whose primary purpose is to convey a moral lesson through rhyming lines. That is not an ignoble objective, but it does not embrace a full participation in the linguistic complexity that characterizes serious poetry. Dr. Higgs seeks in his poems to combine the beauty of art with the beauty of Truth, and thereby to stimulate fresh attention to who God is and how He works with the people of His creation.

  The style of Probing Eyes is mainly free verse, but with regular use of internal rhyme, assonance, and alliteration. The reader may see reflected i

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  Shattered Dreams But Hope

  $10.99

  Shattered Dreams-But Hope, by Drs. Laquita and Elton Higgs, is a book of both testimony and advice: testimony born out of the school of trial and suffering, and advice born out of practical experience in being long-term caregivers. Laquita and Elton have for the last 26 years been caregivers to two adopted daughters with early onset Huntington’s Disease (HD), which is hereditary, and they offer a gripping account of their extended experience in adjusting to the challenges of long-term caregiving, followed by sober practical counsel to others who are involved in similar caregiving experiences. A final chapter speaks specifically of the role of Christian faith in coping with the stresses of their long struggle. In the Appendices are a short talk given after Cynthia’s funeral by her older sister Liann and several poems by Elton on the emotional impact of his and Laquita’s relationship with their disabled daughters.

  The complexity of the story told by the Higgses is heightened by the fact that their two youngest adopted daughters are mother (Cynthia) and biological daughter (Rachel). Elton and Laquita adopted Cynthia as a baby, knowing that she had HD in her background but hoping and praying that she would not develop the disease. Her childhood was normal, but when she became an adolescent, she began to manifest behavioral aberrations that her parents later recognized as being consistent with early onset HD. At age 25, Cynthia was diagnosed as having the disease, and soon afterward she became pregnant with Rachel. Since it was apparent that she could not function as a single mother, Laquita and Elton agreed to adopt Rachel at birth. This action ushered them into a complicated care-giving relationship that has lasted for more than 25 years.

  Laquita and Elton emphasize the difficult but necessary development of trust in God’s goodness and a deep conviction that He is at work even when we can perceive no immediate evidence of it. Especially poignant is their very personal confession of their mistakes in caring for their HD-affected daughters and their struggles to understand that HD, not mere perversity, was the primary source of their daughters’ irrational and angry behavior. Thus, they had to accept that expecting their daughters to be normally responsible persons was both futile and unproductive. Instead, they had to learn simply to love them with God’s love and to pray constantly for God’s wisdom in carrying out their task. It is from this perspective

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