James Russell Lingerfelt wants you to know life can, and very often will, change.

“The progression through life is like climbing a staircase – every step up you see and experience things you didn’t see before,” he said. “Five years ago, if someone had told me I’d be living in Tuscaloosa writing a novel, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

William and Keates Publishing released his book, “The Mason Jar,” in local bookstores last week, and steps are being taken for Lingerfelt to teach Blount Undergraduate Initiative classes on Middle Eastern studies and early Christian literature beginning in the fall semester of 2012.

His path to The University of Alabama could best be described as circuitous. Lingerfelt grew up on his family’s farm on Sand Mountain in northeast Alabama before attending Auburn University. After completing his graduate studies in theology at Pepperdine University, Lingerfelt aided humanitarian efforts in Africa.

When funding fell through for a project he had been recruited to assist, Lingerfelt moved back to the family farm. Before long, his desire for an academic atmosphere prompted the step to Tuscaloosa.

Lissa Petry, a UA senior who knows Lingerfelt personally, said he feels confident he will facilitate meaningful instruction at the University.

“He understands people and can relate to them uniquely, whether they are from just down the road or across the globe in Africa,” she said in an emailed statement. “He has a perspective on the world that few people have. What makes Russell most unique is his authenticity and breadth of experiences.”

Experience is a word that surfaces frequently in conversation with and about Lingerfelt. It is a concept he believes crucial to both life and education.

“You can learn theory all you want,” he said. “But true learning comes when you go out, travel and experience things for yourself.”

Lingerfelt’s belief in the ubiquity and importance of life’s dynamic experience plays a leading role in the inspiration and message of “The Mason Jar.”

The story follows a young man named Clayton as he moves throughout life, experiencing changes, dealing with the death of his grandfather and handling the loss of his relationship with his former love, Savannah.

Clayton’s journey bears more than a passing resemblance to Lingerfelt’s. The protagonist, like his author, grows up in a cozy southern town, attends school in California and performs humanitarian work in Africa. Despite the similarities, Lingerfelt insisted the book is not based on his life story.

“I write what I know,” he said.

One thing Lingerfelt has known for a long time is his desire to write a book about true love and reconciliation.

“I’ve wanted to write a love story ever since I was a little boy,” he said in a November interview with William and Keates. “I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth.”

Lingerfelt was quick to differentiate between love stories and romance novels, citing true love stories’ universal appeal.

“Love stories are not necessarily romance stories,” he said. “People confuse the two. Men think they don’t like love stories, but they do. True love stories like ‘A River Runs Through It’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ – men love those stories.”

He emphasized the importance of true, real-life portrayals, specifically those of reconciliation between lost relationships like the one in his novel.

“What I’ve learned from life is that people are not seeking to be reunited with old loves and first loves,” he said. “Our desire is to have closure and be at peace with the past.”

Lingerfelt would be the first to admit that peace with the past should not come at the cost of respect for the future. Critics are praising “The Mason Jar” (Best-selling author Diana Bold “was blown away by [the] book,” deeming it a “must-read.”), and Lingerfelt is looking forward to future prospects of writing and teaching in Tuscaloosa and beyond. He encouraged students to remain open to personal and educational development.

“It’s like going into the woods as a little boy, and you wonder what’s on the other side of that hill,” he said. “You go and you find a field. Then you wonder what’s past the field – maybe it’s a waterfall. Keep on searching for that waterfall.”