DOUG ATKINS

Doug has won five writing awards including Honorable Mentions in the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Contest (for Two Circles), and two in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Competition. He has two minor credits in Wired Magazine and Reader’s Digest and is a past contributor to BetaBoston, the Boston Globe’s innovation and technology blog. Doug lives near Cape Cod with his wife where they totally spoil their grandkids.

AN EXCERPT FROM “TWO CIRCLES”

By the hand of God I had escaped overdosing on drugs, survived several suicide attempts, never crashed or killed myself or anyone else on my thousands of alcohol/drug infused nights.  I lived through several near-misses with death. I once had severe pneumonia infused with anemia, kidney failure and sepsis, but God saw me through. Why did he keep me safe on my long rides home during the 18 months Cathy was in the hospital and I was surviving on 3-4 hours’ sleep a night? Why did I never fall asleep on the lonely rides home at two or three in the morning?

I came to the understanding that God intended me to meet Terri, so that, through her, I could come to know Him. He intended for me to love women, not use them as I did four decades in the past. I found that I not only loved Justin, now thirty-three, but every child I met, I seemed to have a fondness toward them. He shows His love and mercy by the thousands of small miracles He blesses us with constantly. Yes, there are world disasters, and yet, millions of people are affected by Him. He has given me the privilege to collect the stories of many others who went through trying times just like both me and Terri encountered. My purpose of meeting these people, I don’t know yet, but I know He will tell me in His own time, and I am sure in some way, these mini-biographies are intended to help others suffering dire situations.

He has made it my mission that I tell everyone that no matter how dark and unbearable life becomes, God oversees all of us. When we face death, sickness, financial disaster, loss of work, natural disasters, family ailments, and any situation that badly affects us, He is there.

My two journeys have both taken me full circle. They have taught me how to love my fellow man, and to hold the Lord next to my heart. That women are meant to be revered and honored, never used. It’s taken me from distaste of a nondescript, hateful god, to a passionate love for the great Lord above. I have long lost my feelings for Psalms 13:1-2 and have adopted Mark 12:30-31 (NIV), which says:

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 

31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

There are no commandments greater than these.

Read more of “Two Circles” in Solum Journal Volume I.