IIn a time before city nights became electric there were modest, ordinary, but dedicated men dispatched into the neighborhoods charged with bringing light onto the streets and walkways. These men were the lamplighters. Each evening, they stepped into early dusk, pole in hand, moving from corner to corner, lighting one flame at a time. Their route – efficient, their attitude – resolved. The efforts given were in solitude and accomplished quietly. Illumination of the city, one lantern at a time, was not boastful work but needed. Lamplighters simply lit the way for others. This book is my route as a lamplighter; each of these fictional stories is a lantern. Passages made in my life have taken me from lamp to lamp. Often the lighting has produced a clear steady flicker sparking alive with ease. However, some flames along the path have been difficult to light, requiring more time to understand. Words within this book, the steps I have traveled, do not reflect any great literary novel or art. Instead, it is a trail lit with many turns and open doors of reflected fires — parables often gathered in the night-watch. Other fragments, collected over time, are drawn from quiet shadows and heavy silence. Some fires are gentle to accept but there may be one that enters your soul to burn deep and harsh. They are not meant to answer all of life’s questions but to open the mind, causing a sudden pause within the middle of your own journey – reflection time. Lamps are burning across the entire city; there is no single path to follow. The reader must choose. But walk where a light is provided. Purposely, I have tried to establish burning flames of goodness and light by the use of words. My steps are now yours. Walk with me and at each lamp – look up. Find any question that lingers. Then perhaps give an embracement, quietly, like a humble lamplighter working his route on the less traveled path. See you at the end — Leland. Writer Leland Burns, to my heart and eye, has a "screenwriter's way" of spinning a spiritual story. My favorite of his works so far, is the opening story "Waiting at Heaven’s Gate." It reminds me of my favorite big budget, epic movie scenes that have inspired me since I was a child, and continue to do so. Masterwork films such as Nicholas Ray's MGM KING OF KINGS told the Gospel and Salvation story but told it with some dialogue designed to relate the story in a fashion modern readers can relate to. In other words, the message and principles stayed constant, the method of delivery became more contemporary. As a songwriter and also a Christian comic book writer and editor, this is a method of modern delivery I use. It's a method that has thrilled me and made a difference in my life. Parts of Leland's stories have almost a contemporary feel of a modern version of PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, American-made. Parts of Leland's stories also have a feel of the classic, Spire Christian comic books of the 1970s, and these 4-color books are among my favorites. Additionally Leland's stories have a feel of some of my original Gospel story songs that I've written in the style of pop single hit records over a 50-year period. I sure hope Leland Burns keeps writing and keeps his own brand of "possibility thinking and dreaming". Art Greenhaw Leader, The Light Crust Doughboys Western Swing Band Grammy Award Winner, 8-Time Grammy Nominated in Gospel Texas Gospel Music Hall of Fame