I wrote Cosmic Background Radiation as a parable about deliverance from despair because today’s youth have a greater struggle with loneliness and hopelessness that any previous generation. Religious youth are especially subject to this by being forced to inauthentically compartmentalize their lives, thinking one way at church and a different way at school. I wanted to write a story that addressed this struggle in an organic way while respecting everyday issues in a young person’s life.

As a pastor I have always cherished the opportunity to teach about the Bible to high school students. It was there that I learned about their struggles with faith in the face of challenges both from atheistic philosophy and religious fundamentalism. However, when we looked at the stories in Scripture together, often they could connect to Biblical narratives and use that connection to better integrate their lives with both faith and reason. It was my students’ wise application of Scripture to their everyday lives that inspired the writing of this book.

For this reason, I chose Joshua’s paranormal flashbacks to Jerusalem at the time of King Hezekiah as a key literary element. Although it is less well known, Hezekiah’s time is vital for Biblical history and well suited to the purpose I had in mind for this book. Hezekiah’s religious revival sets the stage for a disastrous geopolitical drama resolved through Divine deliverance. I worked to accurately reflect actual events from Kings, Chronicles, and Isaiah so readers could experience the Biblical narrative from the perspective of those living in Jerusalem. Finally, another reason for choosing this story is because some scholars suggest that the original writing of the Bible likely occurred at this time through royal support. This very human element in the transmission of Scripture is crucial to addressing many thorny issues in the tension between faith and science.

Much of the everyday culture in this book comes from my own experience of growing up on a ranch and going to a rural K-12 school in the 1960s and ’70s. Fortunately, my editor is much younger and was able to update many aspects of high school life to more current standards. I couldn’t resist including basketball in the story, which was the central passion of my youth. Fortunately, even with rule changes, the game is pretty much the same as it was 50 years ago. Underneath it all, I present my bias that hard work and outdoor living are healthy antidotes to many of today’s emotional maladies. The natural order has always been a key connection for my faith in God, which explains why I love the simple landscapes and agrarian tapestry of South Dakota where I’ve lived the last decade and a half. I couldn’t think of a better place for Joshua and Sarah to find each other and the God who loves them.