James King
By Jim Shilander
James King retired from ministry at St. Andrew’s by the Sea Methodist Church in San Clemente in 2010. When he did so, he decided to start on a project he’d been putting off for a long time.
“I’d wanted to write a book for some time,” King said. “I thought now would be a good time to do it. Now that I’m retired I have more time to do this sort of thing.”
King had written some columns for newspapers and had written sermons for years but wanted to do something new when he wrote his first book, “Wide Horizons.”
King said he was returning to some of the themes of his sermons and other previous writing, but didn’t want his book to be just that. But he didn’t want to go too far a field either.
“I have more time to go through my thoughts now, but the themes are pretty consistent, just as they were in my sermons. The basic concept is that we have more resources than we realize,” King said. By resources, King said he meant things like untapped personal ability and drive. “That’s what’s behind the title, that we have unlimited horizons and ways to deal with things.”
King said that while he believed that much of the potential came from God, he didn’t think of his book as a devotional.
“It comes from God, but it’s actually something that we have ourselves,” he said. “It’s not a devotional, in the sense that it has a lot of scripture. I think all of the concepts I deal with have a spiritual connotation, but someone who doesn’t go to church, or who has a grounding in the Christian faith could get something from this.” Topics discussed include dealing with stress, moving past failure, how to keep growing, reaching out to others and learning to look beyond a person’s current horizon
King said that he looked back on his previous work for inspiration and nuggets for the book, but he’s hoping that in future works, he’ll move on to some different subjects.
Those interested in purchasing the book can do so at Mathom House Books in San Clemente. King said he’s also sold copies at church on Sundays, as well as at Family Assistance Ministries, where he is a board member, as well as the Rotary.
