"Give up sin not chocolate" misses the point of Lent

There is a local Evangelical church around here that really seems to be anti-Lent. One year they had a sign that read 'Give up sin not chocolate'.

They don't seem to understand what the point of Lent is. Sin is something that those of us who are Christians are called to give up 100% of the time, not just for Lent. The things we give up for Lent--- chocolate, meat and such--- are GOOD things, not sins.

We give them up in the same spirit that the Old Testament saints gave up their finely woven clothes for a time and wore sackcloth, and poured ashes on their head (something echoed in the Ash Wednesday tradition). They did this as a sign of mourning. Most particularly, mourning for sin.

Lent is a tradition which has arisen among Christians as a time to prepare for Easter by mourning for our sins--- our INDIVIDUAL sins. Face it: by the time you reached age nine you'd committed enough personal sin that even if no other person on Earth had sinned, Jesus would have had to come down and die to pay for YOURS.

As a sign of this mourning, we may choose to give up something that is good. That's a part of the Christian life, by the way. We often may have to give up something that is good for the sake of the Kingdom. For some, the good they give up may be their life, as even today Christians in some parts of the world face a martyr's death, as that Christian pastor in Iran might face death if he refuses to become Muslim.

I personally am a Catholic convert, because I was convinced by the historical evidence that the Catholic Church is indeed the Church Jesus established and has the teaching authority that Jesus had while on Earth and which He passed on to His Apostles. So when the Church says to observe Lent, I am bound to do so.

Others of my Christian friends do not agree with my conclusion about the Catholic Church, and that is fine. I leave it to God to straighten out whoever is in error on this issue. But all Christians are bound to a life that includes mourning for our sins--- true repentance. We need a time of year for this, such as Lent. We need a little of it in our lives every day, as we confront the daily temptations to sin in our lives--- including the sins of omission such as the times we've failed to speak out against abortion/euthanasia, or the times we could have given to the poor but didn't, or the time we could have spoken to an unattractive but lonely person.

For me personally it's hard to figure out how to do Lent. I have a hard time sticking to anything. Furthermore, Lenten observances that are dietary restrictions are a real chore as with my health situation I have to restrict quite severely every day. With my attention deficit thing (a part of my Asperger Syndrome) it's hard to do things like pray the rosary or read the Bible every day because I get so distracted. And I have a tendency to think up really wild bizarre Lenten things to do that are more about obsessiveness than the spiritual life--- last year I seriously considered watching the movie Con Air each day during Lent.

But God knows the barriers each of us are dealing with. He doesn't need us to be perfect at our attempts, He just wants us to make them.

I've got a date with a werewolf....

Tonight's the night. I'm expecting to spend a little quality time with a werewolf named George.

Yes, the BBC series Being Human is starting its new season. Frankly, after what happened to a certain vampire in the last episode of last season, I'm surprised to see the series back.

In the promos they say Annie's looking for a new roommate. I guess two werewolves, one of them expecting a were-puppy, are not enough company for her. Perhaps she needs another ghost. Perhaps one that used to be a vampire.....

The BBC series, showing on BBC America in the US, is much better than the SYFY channel version of Being Human which has very intrusive bursts of loud, annoying music. Both versions of the series have unfortunate bouts of anti-Christianism from time to time. But the sheer joy of watching roommates discuss the issue of whether the werewolf should change in the living room when the ghost has just Hoovered in there makes up for the hate.

For the BBC America deprived, the show is available on DVD as well.

The Realms Thereunder's Rune Poem

"Fyr is First, it burns, it thirsts;
it feasts on flesh and fallen foes.

Urth is dirt, the Second house
we dig the dead, decayed to dust.

Thorn is Third, it cuts, it carves;
a cold and cruel crown for kings.

Ald is age it wastes, it wanes;
want walks Forth; when time wreaks wreck.

Rech is smoke, the smog that smothers
the Fifth sense, smell. It chokes, it chars.

Claw is Sixth, it snicks, it snatches;
when sharp, it shivs, and dull, it catches."

This is the yfelgopes' rune poem from The Realms Thereunder. As someone once keen on Anglo-Saxon/Norse lore from my days as a Norse Pagan, I found it delightful. I even wondered if the yfelgopes were descended from Ymir the primordial giant of Germanic mythology.

Rune poems are a part of Germanic (Anglo-Saxon/Nordic/German) culture. Runes were an alphabet designed, the legend said, by the god Woden, who sacrificed himself to himself in order to gain the alphabetic wisdom. Runes are composed of straight lines, to make them easier to carve into wood. Each letter has a meaning, and the meanings were used both by ancient Norse Pagans and modern Pagan reconstructionists for both rune divination and rune magic.

I note that this rune poem uses a lot of alliteration--- words beginning with the same letter. Alliteration is a characteristic of early Germanic poetry which is often lost in translation. The Lee Hollander translation of the Poetic Edda makes much use of alliteration and gives one a flavor of the Old Norse originals, and for that reason is very popular among Norse Pagans/Odinists/Asatruar.

Here are the verses of the Anglo-Saxon rune poem that compare with the stanzas above:

Wealth is a comfort to all men;
yet must every man bestow it freely,
if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.
The aurochs is proud and has great horns;
it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.
The thorn is exceedingly sharp,
an evil thing for any knight to touch,
uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.
The mouth is the source of all language,
a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men,
a blessing and a joy to every knight.
Riding seems easy to every warrior while he is indoors
and very courageous to him who traverses the high-roads
on the back of a stout horse.
The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame;
it always burns where princes sit within.

The problem with this particular translation is that it gives ordinary English words--- wealth, aurochs, thorn, mouth--- for the Anglo-Saxon rune names, which is not common in the translations I'm used to (which I could not find).

But you can see that the yfelgopes' runes are not the same as the Anglo-Saxon ones--- the second rune is 'Urth' meaning earth/dirt, not aurochs, which is a kind of wild ox which is now extinct. Lawhead is tilting the yfelgopes' lore in the direction of being scary, while the ancient rune poems were aimed at nobles/upper class persons, who didn't think of themselves as scary although, in actual fact, they were.

Because of the excitement and coolness of the Anglo-Saxon elements such as the rune poem, the question arises: Is 'The Realms Thereunder' a suitable read for the Norse Pagan reader? Since there is a limited supply of fiction by actual Norse Pagan authors such as Diana Paxson, my answer is a yes. It has those Anglo-Saxon elements, it's well written, it has a good moral tone--- a matter of interest to our ancient Pagan ancestors.... I would say, yes, it's very suitable. Far more suitable than slightly Pagan-friendly works by atheist/agnostic authors who are only nice to Pagans now because they want to use Pagans as a tool in their fight against Christianity.

As a work by a Christian author, it probably raises the same concerns among Norse Pagans that a work by a Norse Pagan would among Christians. But I believe the Christian content of 'The Realms Thereunder' is low-key enough that the Pagan reader need not be offended. And it's a great book to share with Christian friends/relatives who share your interest in Germanic mythology.

By the same token, Christian readers might want to share the book with Norse Pagan, other Pagan, or Wiccan friends. NOT because it will make them 'get saved'. But because it's a good read that may appeal to their interests.

Book link -  http://www.amazon.com/Realms-Thereunder-Ancient-Earth/dp/1595549099/ (or some other link of your choice)
Author’s Web site  -  http://www.rosslawhead.com/blog/

Visiting other tour members' blogs is an ESSENTIAL part of the blog tour. To encourage this, I have hidden a variety of strange objects in the comments section of the blogs below. How many can you find?:

Gillian Adams
Red Bissell
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman
CSFF Blog Tour
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Rebekah Loper
Marzabeth
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirriam Neal
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Joan Nienhuis
Crista Richey
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant
Thomas Clayton Booher
Janeen Ippolito

New Poem: cat poem for Chachamaru

the ginger cat Chachamaru
kneads my sore leg with needle-like claws


tucked away in my lap, she feels the kittens
playing insider her - it must be spring


but outside the door the piles of snow
and roof-icicles tell a winter story.

(c) Feb 5, 2012 Nissa Annakindt

A sijo. Chachamaru is the cat on the cover of Where the Opium Cactus Grows. Besides posing for poetry book covers she enjoys chasing mice and fighting with other cats. The picture shows Chachamaru, her son Joel (the orange one) and her two stolen kittens.

The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead

As young teens, Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds went missing and discovered a world few know is real. After returning, life went on, but they were not left unmarked. Freya, a university student, has symptoms of OCD. Daniel is now homeless. And the strange world they once shared is bleeding into our own in dangerous ways....

Aftermath

How many books have I read where young people are whisked off into strange and dangerous worlds, and then come home with no aftereffects? I've always been interested in the effect of adventures on the adventurers. As a child I'd make up stories based on the aftermath of Star Trek episodes, and how the crew were traumatized by such things as the death of a redshirt.

The Realms Thereunder starts with two characters who have already had a big adventure and are marked by it. I like that. It shows that actions have consequences. Very realistic.

The Realms Thereunder also has a rune poem in it. Next time, if there is a next time, I will compare it to the traditional rune poems that I learned back when I was a Norse Pagan.

Routine government-demanded disclaimer:
I did NOT receive a review copy of this book, but bought a Kindle copy out of my own very tiny money supply. Even if I HAD received a review copy, the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that I am under no obligation to mention it.

Write a Christian Poem for Lent!
Not a poet? Only a beginning writer? No matter! You are still invited to show your love for Jesus by writing a Christian poem this Lent. You don't have to be from a church that does Lent to qualify---- Protestants, Catholics, Evangelicals, Latter Day Saints and other followers of Christ are welcome.

Any style of poem is accepted, modern, traditional, words picked out of hats..... Contest is open NOW, for more details see Opium Cactus: Write a Christian Poem for Lent contest.

Book link -  http://www.amazon.com/Realms-Thereunder-Ancient-Earth/dp/1595549099/ (or some other link of your choice)
Author’s Web site  -  http://www.rosslawhead.com/blog/

Visit the blog tour links and find the many strange hidden objects I have placed on other tour members' blogs:

Gillian Adams V
Red Bissell
Keanan Brand V
Beckie Burnham V
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman Niðergeard
CSFF Blog Tour
Theresa Dunlap
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan V
Timothy Hicks
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Rebekah Loper
Marzabeth
Shannon McDermott
Rebecca LuElla Miller V
Mirriam Neal
Eve Nielsen
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Joan Nienhuis
Crista Richey
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder V
Kathleen Smith
Donna Swanson
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren V
Dona Watson
Shane Werlinger
Nicole White
Rachel Wyant
Thomas Clayton Booher
Janeen Ippolito V

the lonely man goes to mass

for five years he has gone
to the same small church
each sunday
but no one greets him
or speaks to him
or wants to call him friend
and so he is
alone

so one spring sunday
he brings a chicken with him
to church
and an old woman said
dear brother, you are not permitted
to bring poultry in here

during the alleluia
the chicken laid her egg
not quietly
and an usher said
dear christian brother,
you must not bring
your livestock to church

going up for communion
the deacon advanced
your chicken may not be here
dear brother
you must know that

after mass the man went out
to shake pastor's hand
and for the first time
the pastor spoke
it is so good you are here
my dear brother in christ
but you must not bring a chicken
to the lord's house

the lonely man smiled
and said
i know that
but i did not know
how to be your brother
and now i know
bring a chicken

(c) Feb. 19, 2012 Nissa Annakindt

The story in this poem, in a chicken-free version, was told in a homily by Fr. Michael Ocran, our associate pastor who is from Africa. He was speaking on the importance of being friends to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I can identify with the man as I have a lifetime of being the one that no one speaks to. In a more outgoing Evangelical-type church, people may greet me superficially rather than not speak at all.

(If you are wondering why I don't hang out with non-religious people--- my experience in life has been this: non-religious people throw rocks at me, call me x-rated names, and otherwise show contempt. Christians at least tolerate my presence, and once in a great while will even say 'hello'.)

It's funny that Christian people know that there are people who are painfully shy, or have Asperger Syndrome, or for other reasons are not outgoing people who can easily make friends. But when they see a person who goes to their church time and again, but who does not go up to them to introduce themselves, they conclude that person is standoffish or stuck-up rather than understanding that the person desperately wants their love and friendship.

Perhaps this Lent some of you people with good social skills might 'adopt' some lonely person at your church--- not just greet them, but try to have conversations with them, perhaps invite them to lunch some time.

If the person, like me, has Asperger Syndrome, you may have to learn how to be friends with an aspie. You may need to always be the one who takes the initiative to talk to him or phone him. You may always be the one who suggests doing something like going to lunch together. You may get bored when he talks about one of his 'special interests' that you are not interested in, such as anime or Dark Shadows fandom or promoting American monarchism. But the Lord will bless you for it.

Write a Christian Poem for Lent

My other blog, Opium Cactus Poetry Immersion, is challenging all Christian writers out there to write a Christian poem for Lent, and submit it at: http://opiumcactus.blogspot.com/2012/02/write-christian-poem-for-lent-contest.html

The contest is NOT just for Catholics, but is open to Evangelicals, Protestants, Latter Day Saints, and other followers of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible. And you don't have to be observing Lent to participate. (Please spread the word about the contest on your blog or Facebook page.)

William Blake: The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?


In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?


And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?


What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?


When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?


Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?


William Blake (1757 – 1827)

William Blake's Tyger

4 Online Resources for Korean Sijo Poetry

This blog is publishing a lot of sijo lately and so I thought I would share some sijo resources.

1. Sijo Poetry website A website by the Sejong Cultural Society, with pages on various sijo-topics. A good place to start looking.

2. 'Sijo' at Wikipedia, the Liberal Encyclopedia --- gives examples of classic sijo and also tells the history of English-language sijo.

3. Sijo at ahapoetry.com --- gives a great number of classic Korean sijo.

4. Sejong Cultural Society Sijo Competition for students below college level --- Gives examples and explanations about the sijo. Entry deadline for the contest is March 31st this year.

4 Online Resources for Korean Sijo Poetry

This blog is publishing a lot of sijo lately and so I thought I would share some sijo resources.

1. Sijo Poetry website A website by the Sejong Cultural Society, with pages on various sijo-topics. A good place to start looking.

2. 'Sijo' at Wikipedia, the Liberal Encyclopedia --- gives examples of classic sijo and also tells the history of English-language sijo.

3. Sijo at ahapoetry.com --- gives a great number of classic Korean sijo.

4. Sejong Cultural Society Sijo Competition for students below college level --- Gives examples and explanations about the sijo. Entry deadline for the contest is March 31st this year.

What if your novel inspires a murder?

A great reason to procrastinate on writing your novel, or perhaps never finish: it might inspire a murder.

You might think that only Stephen King or Jeff Lindsay (author of the Dexter novels) really has to worry about that. But murderers can be inspired by anything.

There were two teen girls in New Zealand who were inspired by the music of Mario Lanza. They went on to make up their own fantasy world, and when the grown-ups objected, the two girls murdered the mother of one of them. With a brick. (One of the girls grew up to be the mystery author Anne Perry).

If Mario Lanza music can inspire murder, ANY old novel you might write could inspire a murder. You might not get called on it if you write books about saintly elderly nuns tending a garden rather than about serial killers chopping up prostitutes. But there is no predicting ahead of time what some deranged killer might claim as inspiration.

What is our moral responsibility as writers, then? We cannot control how other people will react to our work. But what we can do is ensure that our fiction has a moral compass.

'Fiction with a moral compass'. It's not fiction in which no character, not even Lord Voldemort, ever does anything morally questionable. Our characters may sin away. They may not even be aware that what they are doing is wrong. But if our fiction has a moral compass, we, as authors, must know, and we must find ways to share that knowledge with our readers. You don't need to preach a sermon. Just a word or two, perhaps out of the mouth of a minor character, to show that killings, theft, adulteries and the like are not the right or wise thing to do.

To be good at this, you must have an accurate moral compass yourself. If you have been trained by your church in catechism classes and know the Christian moral teachings well (or Jewish teachings, or Muslim teachings...), you have a head start.

If you are the sort of person who rejects moral absolutes and traditional Christian values--- the way I used to be--- this can cause a problem as it's difficult to get across the message that murder is absolutely wrong if you also have a message that NOTHING is absolutely wrong. But it can be done--- there are secularist, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors who write as if they had a good moral compass at least when it comes to murder, rape, child sexual abuse, major thefts and the other traditional moral teachings of Western culture that they don't reject.

Still it seems to me it's safest not to publish at all, just to be safe. ;)

What if your novel inspires a murder?

A great reason to procrastinate on writing your novel, or perhaps never finish: it might inspire a murder.

You might think that only Stephen King or Jeff Lindsay (author of the Dexter novels) really has to worry about that. But murderers can be inspired by anything.

There were two teen girls in New Zealand who were inspired by the music of Mario Lanza. They went on to make up their own fantasy world, and when the grown-ups objected, the two girls murdered the mother of one of them. With a brick. (One of the girls grew up to be the mystery author Anne Perry).

If Mario Lanza music can inspire murder, ANY old novel you might write could inspire a murder. You might not get called on it if you write books about saintly elderly nuns tending a garden rather than about serial killers chopping up prostitutes. But there is no predicting ahead of time what some deranged killer might claim as inspiration.

What is our moral responsibility as writers, then? We cannot control how other people will react to our work. But what we can do is ensure that our fiction has a moral compass.

'Fiction with a moral compass'. It's not fiction in which no character, not even Lord Voldemort, ever does anything morally questionable. Our characters may sin away. They may not even be aware that what they are doing is wrong. But if our fiction has a moral compass, we, as authors, must know, and we must find ways to share that knowledge with our readers. You don't need to preach a sermon. Just a word or two, perhaps out of the mouth of a minor character, to show that killings, theft, adulteries and the like are not the right or wise thing to do.

To be good at this, you must have an accurate moral compass yourself. If you have been trained by your church in catechism classes and know the Christian moral teachings well (or Jewish teachings, or Muslim teachings...), you have a head start.

If you are the sort of person who rejects moral absolutes and traditional Christian values--- the way I used to be--- this can cause a problem as it's difficult to get across the message that murder is absolutely wrong if you also have a message that NOTHING is absolutely wrong. But it can be done--- there are secularist, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors who write as if they had a good moral compass at least when it comes to murder, rape, child sexual abuse, major thefts and the other traditional moral teachings of Western culture that they don't reject.

Still it seems to me it's safest not to publish at all, just to be safe. ;)

Song Sammun: A pine tree

When you ask me what I'd wish to be
after my death,
I would answer, a pine tree, tall and hardy
on the highest peak of Mount Pongnae,
And to be green, alone, green
when snow fills heaven and earth.

Song Sammun (1418-1456)

A sijo written in Korean by one of the Six Martyred Ministers of Tanjong. I found it in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry, edited by Peter H. Lee. It has a good section on sijo as well as on other Korean forms of poetry. The two poems of Song Sammun's I've blogged so far are rather death-y, but then he was executed and all (and perhaps he suspected his fate long enough before he died to write poems about it).

The sijo of this period were transmitted orally for some generations, and were sung/chanted. The book mentioned above tells a bit more about it.

Inspired by what I DIDN'T like in a favorite book

Recently I read the whole Hunger Games trilogy on Kindle (because it was cheap, and the story sounded interesting). I liked it. But what inspired my writing side was not the good parts of the book, but something I didn't care for.

Panem, the world in which the Hunger Games takes place is a future United States, but it is also a parallel to the ancient Roman empire. With one big difference between it and its sources. In Panem, there are no Christians. Or Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans or Pagans, for that matter. I felt the lack was illogical.

This inspired ideas about an unfallen Roman empire in which Christians existed but never became dominant, and were subjected to persecutions including the possibility of death in the arena. My story was centered around the idea that a group of young people--- children of Christian parents--- were ordered to fight to the death in the arena.

The unfallen Rome of the story I named 'Kirinia' and decided it was another world, that ancient Romans had gotten to by means of a Portal (transportation gateway between worlds/locations). I got the name 'Kirinia' from the name of an obscure Roman god, Quirinius. The Romans were actually sometimes called 'Quirites' from that name. I changed the spelling to eliminate the 'q'.

The name 'Kirinia' reminded me of the 'kirin', an Asian mythological beast which played a part in a world I created called 'Erileth'. This world had 5 kingdoms which corresponded to the Asian 5 Elements (wood, fire, earth, water, metal). Each element had colors, directions, creatures, livestock, grains and the like which corresponded to it, and so I decided to use these as a basis for creating the kingdoms.

The Earth kingdom in the Center of the world had the kirin as its beast. When I consulted my Erileth binder, I saw that I had decided to base the Earth kingdom's culture on ancient Rome. That decided me on the project of merging the new story's world with that of my old Erileth/5 Elements world.

Anyway, I got to wondering: what is it about our favorite books that inspires us with more/better story ideas of our own--- the parts we do like, or the parts we don't? In YOUR experience, what inspires YOU more???