The short story “My Uncle is Dead” was inspired by the confluence of two things during my commute. I had been listening to a song on Steve Bell‘s Symphony Sessions album, “This is Love“, which envisions Jesus praying for his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane. I had also been listening to the news about the attempted Times Square bombing, with all the questions about the bomber’s motive. The confluence of the song and the news story posed this question:
What would it have been like, to be a family member of the disciple Judas, after his death?
“My Uncle is Dead” wasn’t intended to be historically accurate, but to explore the question, staying consistent with the account in the Christian gospels. Note that the gospel accounts are not consistent in some details around Judas: Matthew 27:3-8 describes Judas’ death one way, but the Acts of the Apostles 1:15-19 tells it differently.
If you would like to read the story again, or if you missed it the first time, here is part 1.
Jars of Water 