Miracles - Among Other Things

About the Book

Miracles - among other things is a collection of verse plays suitable for rehearsed readings for church entertainments. The first part is for Christmas celebrations. It consists of seven poems about Christmas, six soliloquies by the major characters in the Advent Story, and a short play called Miracles. While the characters are the familiar ones, the things they say are not.

The second part of the book is a Halloween play called All Hallow's Eve. Three couples have gone on October 31 to close down a summer cottage. They are caught by a storm that knocks out the electricity. By candle light they tell ghost stories that start out being humorous but soon turn into theological arguments with a surprise ending.

The plays can be presented without elaborate scenery or costuming. They have, however, also been used with a simple crèche for the Advent story, and homemade costumes for the Wise Men, shepherds, inn keeper, and Mary and Joseph.

The book makes an ideal gift for people who like poetry and novel ways of looking at familiar stories.

About the Author

Clifford Swartz is a physicist, retired from Brookhaven National Laboratory and from State University at Stony Brook. His is the author of more than thirty books, most of them physics texts. He continues to teach at the University. he and his wife have 6 children and 6 grandchildren. The plays have been staged in the Setauket Presbyterian Church.