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Showing posts from August, 2011

Taking Up the Cross

This past Sunday the lectionary reading from the gospels moved things on from Simon Peter's confession of Jesus as Christ (Matthew 16: 13-20) to the confrontation between Jesus and Simon over the direction Jesus was headed (Matthew 16: 21-28) and Jesus' challenging words: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24 (ANIV) I've just recently completed Robyn Young's "Templar Trilogy" dealing with the latter years of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the downfall of the Templar Order. If you want to read my full review of the final episode " Requiem " you can find it here , but basically all three were a bit of a slog, with the author trying to cover too much in any one book. She does manage to avoid a lot of the conspiracy-theory nonsense that many other "Templar" books are founded on, but she does seem to import a 21st century multi-faith/secularist mindset

History and Heroes

Earlier in the summer on the 4th July we had an Independence Day party. I went dressed as a Native American, and when challenged by an American friend as to what that had to do with American Independence, I said that I was representing the first nations of America. I suppose, on reflection I could have claimed that I was dressed as a participant in the Boston Tea Party, one of the mythic events that primed the pump for revolution... yet one which is badly misunderstood by the vast majority of Americans, and misappropriated by Sarah Palin and her posse of right wing nihilists (or theocrats depending on how you read it ). It was priceless recently seeing her display her complete ignorance of that other iconic revolutionary event, the midnight ride of Paul Revere , and her acolytes' cack-handed attempts to change history, or at least what passes for history on Wikipedia . However, as Bernard Cornwell points out in his (as always) scrupulous historical notes at the end of his most

Watch this Space...

Have been off the blog for quite a wee while now, and it seems like others have been shaking off the blogging bug in my absence (including the always stimulating Zoomtard). However, my absence has been due to a combination of technical problems and life/work balance, but things are beginning to even out again and (at present) my intention is to carry on. I could well be posting into a virtual vacuum given that I have been away so long, but never mind... 90% of my blogging has always been about personal therapy anyway. After such an absence I've got a number of pieces that are likely to come thick and fast now, largely prompted by reading and viewing experiences over the past 2-3 months. I've just posted a review of the first of my holiday reading on Goodreads/Facebook, "The Fort" by Bernand Cornwell (of "Sharpe" fame). At first glance this wouldn't seem to be the most profound of books (ideal holiday reading) but tomorrow I'll be expanding on th