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The Elder

Name: The Elder
Rating: 4.1 (2 reviews)

Roger E. Bruner

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Elderly Paul “Barney” Eisner lives to help others.When he’s forced into retirement at the age of eighty, he loses his sense of worth. Having an accident immediately after seeking a volunteer position at church and being stuck at home with a broken leg that refuses to heal discourages him even more.

When his wife, Anna, brings his old guitar down from the attic, he starts honing his long-unused playing skills. He composes two songs and records them at home. The first is too personal to share with anyone else, but he believes the second one will bless others and give him a new sense of worth.

Anna anonymously sends the recording to local Christian radio station WJCR, protecting Barney’s identity by referring to him as THE ELDER. She hopes someone there will be willing to listen to it and encourage him.

The station personnel do more than that. They want to play his song on the air. Within days ‘The BE Song’ airs on a number of sister stations and becomes a nationwide Christian hit. Aware that it is blessing numerous thousands of listeners who have no idea that Barney is THE ELDER, he revels in his renewed sense of worth.

God doesn’t inspire Barney to write any more songs, however, and Anna deflates his dream of becoming a performer by pointing out that he is an old man who doesn’t have the necessary stamina—either as Barney Eisner or THE ELDER.

How can he regain his worth once ‘The BE Song’ starts losing its initial popularity? Is Anna correct that God may have given Barney great success once to prepare him to be helpful in smaller ways now? Can ‘The BE Song’ itself possibly provide the answer?

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 13, 2024

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About the author

Roger E. Bruner

32 books26 followers

Former English teacher, job counselor/interviewer, and programmer/analyst. Retired at 62 to write full-time.

Roger can't decide which genre he prefers. He's written speculative fiction, contemporary women's fiction, and novels for teens. His current interest is fiction for and about senior adults. All of his twenty-four novels are Christian, however, and are free from objectionable language, sexual content, and gratuitous violence.

Roger plays bass on his church praise team and guitar at a weekly nursing home ministry. He has also been on mission trips to Australia, England, Wales, Romania, and Nicaragua.

At 78 he's still in pretty good health, but stays home a lot more than he used to. He enjoys reading, walking, photography, writing music and recording his own songs at home, and playing Quidler with his delightful wife, Kathleen.

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