The Making of Jesus' Son

Series I Afterword

This was written at the end of Series I. Series II begins with In Heaven with Jesus' Son.

If you haven't finished reading Doing Drugs with Jesus' Son, including last week's final episode, please go read that before this. This is the Afterword.

Five months ago, I wrote a small bit of political satire and decided to put it up on the Substack fridge where everyone could see it, unsure if I'd post anything else. Then my favorite writer in the entire world became my fourth subscriber, and I realized that if I had anything to say to the whole internet, it was now or never.

I knew religion was where I really had anything worth saying. It had been 17 years since I last posted anything religious online. I'd long promised myself, if I ever got back into the preaching game, the first thing I'd post would be something about forgiveness, which I did. I followed it up with a sermon on omnipotence, and I had a few other ideas queued up in my brain.

I was definitely not expecting that, immediately after posting that second sermon, I'd sit down and start churning out a novella. Fiction has never been my strong suit, and I really do take my beliefs seriously and want to keep them at the forefront of my writing. But the story of Jesus' Son broke open like a flood, becoming the only thing I could think about until the first draft was completed a month later. Was it a Muse? Divine inspiration? Bipolar mania? Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't my plan.

I hope it's clear enough from my writing that I kid because I love. The highest praise I could possibly receive came from my very pagan husband, who told me that after reading this, he finally understood the God I worship. I hope you have found the same.

I had the first draft of the whole thing fully written before I started releasing weekly episodes, and now that they're all out there, I'm not sure what comes next. I have a few pieces from my wayward youth that I'd like to brush up and post here, and a few other ideas for serious sermons more along the lines of the first two. And I really hope this isn't the last we hear from Jesus' Son, though I don't want to jinx anything by saying more. (Two months later...)

But I'm definitely taking a few weeks of downtime here, and then I expect to release less frequently than I have been. Hold on to that subscription, though, because there will be more to come.

Thank you to all of my readers. This has been the most powerful writing experience of my life, and I'm grateful you've shared in it.

Peace & Love,

Jack Ditch

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Next: In Heaven with Jesus’ Son

Doing Drugs with Jesus’ Son is always free.