I Am Not Hamlet

  It's been a good run, sort of. I don't see much traffic here these days, partly because I only post occasionally. But I think in some ways, blogs as they are, have become quasi-obsolete. I'm not, however, giving up writing. I'm moving. To a Substack. This one : Pilgrim of the Sweetwater Seas.  So, if you're inclined. Check it out. Subscribe--it's free until I get a certain number of subscribers (and I'm not even close to that number yet).  Anyway, thanks Blogspot for the opportunity way back in the Oughts to do this.  Maybe I'll see you, reader, over at the Pilgrim site?

  I know I failed to post this last year for what I read in 2022. So, here is what I read this past year. As always, these are listed in the order of reading and not any kind of ranking. The Shadow Lamp * Stephen R. Lawhead Book four in the Bright Empires series, continues with many of the same characters and a few new ones. The mystery of the Skin Map underscore a threat to the entire universe. The story is a bit pulpy and not Lawhead’s best (I’m speaking of the series as a whole), but still an enjoyable read for fans of Sci-fi and to a lesser extent, fantasy. Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in your Yard * Douglas W. Tallamy This continues his ideas expressed in Bringing Nature Home . Essentially, if you want to “save the planet” (a phrase full of hubris) start with your yard and your neighborhood. If you’ve read about this stuff before, you won’t find any new insights, but it bears repeating. This is as good as any place to start for backyard ecol...

 This is the last poem of mine, I believe, that will be published this year. Foreshadow, the publisher of this one, is presenting another poem next year some time.  This one is kinda-sorta a poem. I tried to write it in a modified blank verse, but it just wasn't working that way. This is how it turned out. https://www.foreshadowmagazine.com/magazine/untitled2866983

 This is the third time I've been published in Jesus the Imagination . It is, however, the first time a poem of mine has been published with this journal. I haven't finished reading my copy, but so far there have been some excellent essays. Get yourself a copy today!

So, the first of four poems has dropped. Point your critical browser to this URL for lots of good stuff at Ekstasis :  https://www.ekstasismagazine.com/poetry/2023/bird-is-the-word Constructive criticism welcome!

 So, I'm two for two at Front Porch Republic. I sent in four poems to another publication; I'm awaiting a word from that. For now, here's a piece on blessing. https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2023/05/blessings-to-impart/

 Many moons have circled since my last posting.  Here is something I wrote in late June and Front Porch Republic published on Labor Day. Enjoy.  Getting to Know the Neighbors

  Reads of 2021 This is a little late (only three days to go in February as I begin this, but here it is nonetheless). As always these are in order of reading not in order of goodness. Three Cheers for the Paraclete * Thomas Keneally I got through three chapters and put it down. It just didn’t grab me. The Compleat Angler * Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton Interesting as a primary source, but about 50+ pages too long for pleasurable reading. There were some worthwhile pieces in it–poetry, etc. Entangled * Martin Sheldrake I listened to this as an audio book, so I probably missed some things, but overall it was fascinating. All about fungus and how “There is more in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy…” The Lost World of Genesis One * John H. Walton Another audio book; Walton asserts how the first chapter of Genesis explains that the earth is a temple and all creation has a function in this temple, rather than some pseudo-scientific creation myth. My last Prote...

Early on in Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall Kimmerer compares the Great Lakes people’s story or Skywoman with the Bible’s account of Eve. She does this to compare how indigenous people viewed the world versus Western ones who had been Christianized. She thinks Eve’s story is unfair. But Kimmerer compares fruit to vegetables as Eve is a created mortal, whereas Skywoman is at least some kind of demigoddess. The comparison is unfair as well because she only focuses on a part of the Biblical story. The Bible has been regarded as a story in four acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration/Glorification. Eve is centerstage only for the Creation and Fall, she doesn’t live to see redemption, though she receives the promise of it. The icon of the Resurrection depicts a risen Jesus pulling Adam and Eve from their tombs as he smashes the gates of Hell and death. This Kimmerer doesn’t mention at all. It should be noted that Kimmerer is Potowatomi. The rest of the book is good. ...

There was (probably still is for all I know) a sub-current in Evangelical Christianity that derided using “Christian” as an adjective. Looking around the ghetto that Evangelicalism created for itself one could find “Christian’ magnets, movies, and music, ”Christian” t-shirts and toys, “Christian” books and baubles of all kinds. The problem was baptizing and separating things that didn’t necessarily need that kind of labeling.  So a friend of mine sent me the link to a podcast episode about Christian Animism. Christian Animism? What is that? Noel Moules explains on the Nomad February 2020 podcast. To start with, what is Animism? Many indigenous religions can be seen as Animist. Moules cites Graham Harvey, a British professor of Religious Studies, who says Animists are people who recognize that the world is full of persons, but only some of whom are human and that life is to be lived in relationship with others. That leads to the question of what is a person? Online dictionaries are...

 Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.                                                                                                             --Simone Weil      Man, is that hard to do. I don't know about you, but even the most interesting and enriching conversations' spells can be broken by some flash of something that catches my eye.