Two projects of mine have moved crucial steps closer to completion. My project for the Israeli government is going gloriously well, and more details will follow as soon as I have them.  We did pricing information today and started doing some actual financial choices. All I can say is, this project will make ideelismee proud.


I have also gotten some help with my Salome novel. I found out a dear friend of mine is studying her and has always dreamed of writing a novel about her as well. Over dinner, we realized our writing style is very compatible, and we'd like to work together on this and some other writing projects. I really write best with a partner, and basically, she loves all  of my "to do" projects and wants to work with me, as she's someone who is better at execution. I trust her, she trusts me and she and I mesh well together. That means I'll be able to work with someone and finally get over those lunps. It means losing some control but I believe she will be a huge asset. She has editorial training, she has an excellent work ethic and we've discussed putting our friendship first, and how to deal with disagreements.

So I feel very good. We'd like to finish this project's first draft (Book 1) in a year, and we're really happy.

But still so much to do. I want to do good work while I still have time. I don't want to give up my dreams. I want to make them come true. 

Hey,

I put a cut on my recent posts due to receiving totally correct PM's from other phobics who don't want to read about my exploits.

I'm so sorry my posts caused undo distress due to my thoughtlessness.

From now on any posts (and I don't think there will be, hopefully) that deal with my phobia will be cut.

Please do not feel shy to contact me about posts that you may find upsetting or triggering, I do not want what I write to be the cause of any distress that can be avoided or at the very least controlled - I know, I read/watch things that might trigger me, but I psych myself up before hand.

All my love.

Crossposts: http://eumelia.dreamwidth.org/590810.html

Do any of you know of any good, edifying fiction by Christians? I do have preferred genres, but love to read outside them; I do have preferred media, but go ahead and recommend anything-- books, webcomics, TV shows, anything!

I'd just greatly appreciate it if there were some more fiction in my life that didn't glorify the concerns and pleasures of this world.

Gabe Toro (aka fabfunk) has written a rather awesome spoilerific takedown of the latest Star Trek movie. That was pretty cool and I'm sure not everyone will agree. However this led to claims by some commenters that this challenge to J.J. Abrams' film was somehow a stain on Gabe's reputation as a film critic.



I think this is all the funnier if you've seen the ridiculous spectacle of New-Spock crying out a villain's name that he first heard just a few hours ago. It really is the equivalent of Vader's "NOOOOOO!" in "Revenge Of The Sith".

See Gabe Toro's awesome article which preceded these comments either by clicking here or on the image above...

I don't always agree with Gabe, but I think he's completely on the money this time. The article also includes an ingenious reference to the movie "Spaceballs".

I have been facing a lot of good and a lot of bad in the last few days. I'm happy in many ways, but I'm so exhausted and stressed that it makes it harder for me to enjoy the happiness. I've been running every day with an understanding that I will go into bed, sans spoons, that I will crawl into bed shaking and exhausted and barely able to force myself to brush my teeth, change into my nightie and said Shema.

I'm devoting a huge amount of time to the bar. I'm still doing articles. I'm still volunteering for two places. I'm still attending bible class. I'm socializing with friends. I'm working out interval and strength. I'm doing it all and I'm burning myself into a   fury because I'm trying to work out feelings which I can't work out.

Just getting mad at a lot of stuff outside my control and working myself to oblivion seems like the only way to fix it.

Sigh, I need to just...get my head straight. 

Yesterday, Boston news outlets included a story about an Episcopal priest of this diocese who'd just been suspended for plagiarizing his sermons. 

Several years ago, I preached the occasional sermon at the Episcopal church down the street. I learned that writing a sermon is hard work. Even a short fifteen-minute homily takes hours to prepare.  

The first question is always, "What's the topic?"  The Book of Common Prayer includes the original 39 Articles of Religion, first set down in 1549. Article 35 contains approved topics for sermons. They include "Against the Peril of Idolatry," "That the Common Prayers and Sacraments ought to be ministered in a known tongue," and "Against Idleness." The would-be preacher will find these bones pretty dry. No one inveighs against the vain Romish error of ministering the Sacraments "in a tongue not understanded of the people" anymore. Preaching from the present is almost as bad as preaching from the past. It's too easy to find yourself on the wrong side of current events and offend members of the church who might have different political leanings. So what's left? Most preach from the "propers" - the appointed Scripture readings for that particular Sunday.

What can you say that hasn't already been said? The ground has been trodden flat by the boots of almost two thousand years-worth of other preachers, smarter men (and women) than you or me. Chances are pretty good that if you find something new to say about anything, it's probably heretical (and still not new). 

On the Monday or Tuesday before, I'd read the Bible chapters for Sunday, and pray that God would give me the words to reach and teach His people, and I'd read commentaries and glosses, and I'd read other people's sermons and lectures, and I'd pray for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sometime on Saturday it would take form, and I'd deliver it at the 4:30 Mass. I'd then polish it up a little further for the big Mass on Sunday morning. And then it's done, filed away, never to be repeated. 

Some of the sermons I thought were the worst were the best received. People came up to me after Mass to thank me for something that particularly touched them. I thanked them, but the credit belonged to the Holy Spirit. I was just thankful that I didn't have to do this every week.

Other preachers used other methods. My own priest subscribed to a service that sent preaching ideas for the week's readings, for both adult and children's sermons, rather like the book club questions sometimes found in the back of novels. There are subscription services where you can get lots of help, outlines, illustrations, and even some that will provide the whole sermon for you. 

Almost 40 ago, I attended services at the local monastery - the same monastery where the current bishop lives. A wonderful grandfatherly priest who I particularly loved gave a beautiful sermon. Afterwards, I went up and asked if I might have a copy. He looked shamefaced and confessed that his mind wasn't as sharp as it once was, and the sermon wasn't actually his own. Asking for a copy of a sermon is meant as high praise, but I felt terrible for embarrassing him.

Pulpit plagiarism is a widespread practice. It's every church's dirty little secret. Sometimes the preacher just doesn't have the talent for it. Some weeks the preacher doesn't have the time. The congregation believes that a sermon is the result of lonely scholarship combined with the spirit of God, carrying a particular message straight from the Almighty to the hearts of the faithful at the very moment when it is most needed. Ministering to the sick and dying is all well and good, raising money is excellent, but ministers and priests are ultimately judged by their sermons.

So what happens when a congregation learns that their preacher isn't wrestling with God and ancient texts, that he's just a sophomore buying his term papers online? What happens when they find out that the inspiration of the Holy Ghost was just a ghost-writer?  Doesn't it tell them that their preacher doesn't believe a word of what he's saying? That he has no faith that God will provide? That maybe an inspirational sermon is just a few clever-sounding phrases woven together by a talented copywriter, and that it collapses under closer examination? Doesn't it suggest that anyone who can write advertising copy or science fiction can set himself up as a priest, prophet, or patriarch of a church, and that only suckers believe glib rhetoric is a sign of divine authority?

The sermons today will be all about Pentecost, and how the Spirit of God came as tongues of fire upon the apostles, and they all became great preachers. You can find some of today's sermons at SermonCentral.com.  

Plagiarize!
Let no one else's work evade your eyes!
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes!
So don't shade your eyes
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize!
… Only be sure always to call it, please, "research."

     - Tom Lehrer, Lobachevsky

P.S.  The image of the pontificating priest is a original work by the very talented Denis Loubet, the man who created the art for many of the classic computer games like the Ultima series. You can find the Facebook page of his current project here.