We Have Met the Enemy

In Metal from Heaven, by August Clarke, the narrator dresses up as Velma Truth Loveday, and heads downstairs all packed. Mago whispers to Susannah about the Flip River Delta, encouraging her to agree to something. Other guests just watch the narrator depart without addressing them.

The narrator has waited for ages for what they are about to do. Goss asks them if they prefer to go slow when referring to their physical relationship. The narrator replies by asking Goss when Yann Industry, Goss's father/guardian will arrive.

Last week I attended the Beehive Statesmen winter concert at the Utah Cultural Center. It was an interesting mix of Santa Claus and elves singing traditional music, including Nativity songs. Included in the mix were some Christmas jokes and a bit of a skit, where it appeared people were forgetting their lines. To be honest, whether intentional or not, that felt awkward.

It also had me thinking about whether the Nativity Stories are probably more myth than accuracy, concerning the assumptions of our songs, and the culture in that region at the time. The man we know as Jesus, would have more that likely had a more common name, like Jeshua or Joshua, than going around as a child with a name literally meaning messiah, or savior. Talk about a reason to get picked in as a kid. Most Jewish rabbis rose to prominence via a test of their faith, and their understanding and interpretation of the stories and the laws, including their ability to minister.

Jeshua, as a Palestinian Jew and a Nazarene, likely followed the Nazarite traditions and creed, and what was taught in his name very closely resembles this creed. In a world of oppression under the Roman law, a creed that taught acceptance, belonging, loving, and communal caring, with the need to remain strong, persistent, and speak truth to power, would have struck a chord in a lot of people as it does today. The place attributed to where Jeshua lived and taught is very close to the area we know as the West Bank today. Can you imagine what he would be thinking if he saw this devastation today?

In Blood Over Bright Haven, by M. L Wang, Thomil, a Kwen janitor is assigned to Highmage Sciona as a kind of joke, since she’s the only female highmage. Thomil doubts he’ll be able to meet her standards, since he only learned Tiranish on a previous job in order to do inventory. Sciona plans to show all the highmages that she doesn’t need special accommodations in order to succeed. Thomil puts himself at her disposal.

Thomil and Sciona have a debate about what is ethically good. Thomil argues that what defines your behavior as good is the outcome, despite the intention. Sciona argues that it is the reverse, that it is the intention that is either good or bad, and that the gods favor intention over outcome. The argument follows a naturalistic versus transcendental definition of good and evil. Thinking of yourself as having good intentions with resulting evil is a kind of self-disillusionment, while doing evil with positive effects is accidental.

After a heated debate, they both eventually come to the conclusion that someone must intentionally do good, in order to be more likely do effectuate good, but to not be blind to the effects of their actions. They must realize when their actions need to be changed in order to actually have good effect instead of an evil one. This in itself requires an active intention for good.

Sciona learns from the baker’s son that his older brother killed himself because as a border guard he was being ordered to throw Kwen people out of the city that sought refuge only to watch the blight strip their flesh from their bones. Neither returning to work in the bakery nor the services of the alchemist to help him calm his mind had the effect of easing his anxiety.

I am reminded of the quote, “We have met the enemy, and he is us,” from a Pogo comic strip by Walt Kelly. Kelly reminds us that many of the problems that we are trying to deal with we created ourselves, especially war and pollution. I would like to add racism, transphobia, misogyny, xenophobia.

In Blood, M. L. Wang, parallels our own cultural rifts between the haves and the have nots, how the luxuries of those in power come at the expense of those who are denied the power, like Yin and Yang, or two sides of the same coin.

Saturday, I heard the story of the Christmas Box House by one of its founders, who was gracious to give everyone in attendance a copy of her book, Garbage Bag Girl. The mission of the Christmas Box House has been to aid in successful placement of children, especially siblings, into stable homes. By providing resources and sheltering, the two week to four month transitional time helps law enforcement not feel so stressed trying to find someone to take the children in that they place them in a dangerous situation. It also provides a means to try to keep siblings together without separating them. Older siblings get to take a break from parenting their brothers and sisters, and be a kid.

The author’s story is heartbreaking, and I put her book on my reading list.

In More Stars Than Grains of Sand, Al Forsyth shares that the ocean quahog, read sea urchin, bowhead whale, Aldabra tortoise, and Greenland shark have lifespans over 200 years. 122.45 years is the longest recorded human lifespan, while the Immortal Jellyfish has a virtually indefinite lifespan.

In The Jasmine Throne, by Natasha Suri ,Prince Prem informs Prince Rao that no Saketan highborn would go anywhere unarmed. Rao, who has set aside his weapons in order to be more subtle, doesn’t bother to tell Prem that no Aloran prince would do so either. Instead he needles him by telling him that he gets so drunk, he’s surprised that he still has all his limbs.

In the end, the ends don't always justify the means, and we need to assess whether our intentions truly are having the effect we desire or if we need to buckle down and do something about it. We have been the source of a lot of our issues; but now that we have met the enemy--and they are us--what are we going to do about it?