20 December 2004: Tales of Fools and Prophets

I'm reading a fabulous, gripping, delightful book: The Fool's Tale, a novel about political and romantic intrigue in 12th Century Wales. It's perfect winter reading for the sort of people who like that sort of reading (among my regular readers that I know of, Ace, Lila, Geminica, and Stagewalker immediately come to mind).

The Fool's Tale is scheduled to hit bookstore shelves on January 4th. Place advance orders at your local independent bookstore today.

Yeah, I'm cheating - I'm reading it before it's available. I've got a galley copy, loaned to me by the author, who is a friend and aikido student of mine (and who will be referred to by the kenning "Rhiannon" in future appearances in this journal).

And while I'm bragging about knowing the author of The Fool's Tale, I should mention that I published her first, on the Aiki Arts site (and informed her, at the time, that I planned to brag about it eventually).

And while we're on the subject of Wales... several weeks ago, Zoheret, wife of the Saint, wrote to me and asked:

If you are familiar with the Biblical story of Jonah, would you please share your perspective on it, especially concerning prophets and the process of responding to a calling?

Yes, people really do write to me with questions like that on a regular basis. I love my friends.

This was my reply, reprinted here in case it's of use to anyone else:

Yes, I'm familiar with the story of Jonah. It's my favorite book in the entire Bible - brief, entertaining, action-packed, and featuring a honkin' big monster fish.

These are the primary lessons I've gleaned from it:

1. Whatever God calls you to do, do it.

2. God will continue to steer you toward the fulfillment of your calling.

3. You can't escape from God.

4. If one fails to notice God's communications, or pretends that they are something other than direct communications from God ("coincidence" is one of the more hilarious terms used these days by people who are engaged in this sort of denial), God will make the hints more obvious - though never obvious enough to obviate the need for the human to make a leap of faith and a conscious decision to recognize and answer the call. (If that last bit isn't clear enough, consider that God brings Jonah to within sight of Nineveh, but doesn't actually arrange for him to be dropped off inside the city limits.)

5. You don't get to choose who it is that you end up influencing.

6. If you encounter a person who is avoiding God's mission for them to such a degree that they're ignoring hints from God that are big enough for others to notice (for instance, an alcoholic who totals his car while driving drunk and calls it "bad luck"), do not allow that person to "board your ship."

The New Year's Party will be at Bonita Hollow, home of Laramie and Wonderboy. I'll be sending out email invitations with directions in the next couple of days, to those people who I think will be both around and interested.

Performing tonight.

Off to do laundry and dishes, and read more of The Fool's Tale.