Remembering Orie June 9, 2009

I recently shared here about my former pastor’s struggle with cancer and some thoughts about healing.  Sadly, the man I posted about passed away this past Saturday.  His name was Orie, and he was 55.

I had mentioned in that post that our relationship with Orie had been damaged and I had hoped for some sort of reconciliation.  When we chose not to continue to attend church services and took a step back from institutional Christianity, he didn’t understand.  He was hurt.  We were hurt by some things as well.  I chose not to re-enter his life over these past several months that he was so sick.  The man was in incredible pain and ended up going the last month of his life without any nourishment.  Any meeting with him would have been to clear my conscience.  He didn’t need that.  He needed to be with his family.

My heart is sad for his wife of 30+ years and for his three kids.  Orie will  miss the kids’ weddings and will not get to meet any grandchildren on this side of heaven.  He won’t be there when his youngest graduates high school.  I know that this happens to many families, but I can’t help but feel especially sad in this case.  I know how much of himself he poured into the church fellowship we used to attend.  How much had he already missed of his family in the name of serving God?

The memorial service is tonight.  I won’t be attending for numerous reasons, but I will be remembering.  I remember the man that cried with me when I grieved and encouraged me in my faith.  I remember when he showed up on a Saturday at our house with his chain saw and attacked our backyard with great flourish (we had a work day and he wouldn’t miss that “fun” for anything!)  A friend of mine posted on her facebook page that if there are bobcats in heaven, Orie will be the happiest man there.  He was all about digging in the dirt!  Many people will miss him.  I just hope that among the many that someone really knew him.  It’s hard for anyone to really know you when you are spread so thin.

I am especially praying for his wife right now.  She has an entire congregation of people who feel like they lost their personal mentor / shepherd / father figure right now.  She is very much in the spotlight, and I hope that she is given the privacy and gives herself the permission to truly grieve.  If she is angry with God, I pray that she will allow herself that.  We’ve all been there, and it is so much more painful to deny ourselves the process.

So I celebrate the life of this man who meant so much to so many.  I am grateful for the season in which we were a part of each other’s lives.  I am glad he is not suffering anymore, but I am so sad for his family.

A Look at Twilight, Part 2 June 2, 2009

This is a continuation from my last post.  It was originally part of it, but I realized that the post was entirely too long.  I’m fighting my husband for computer time, so I wrote it and posted quickly without realizing that I had left a novel!  :)  Please read my previous post before reading this one.

The themes running through the Twilight  books were really a mixed bag.  Here is a break-down of the things that stood out to me:

• There is  tremendous value placed on youth and beauty in the Twilight books.  All of the vampires are stunningly beautiful and young.  Of course they are also not aging.
• The Cullens spend money like it’s water.  They are extremely wealthy, but we only get a sense that they like to spend it.  I can’t remember examples of them using their money for the benefit of others.
• Teens are not portrayed well.  For the most part, they are manipulative, gossipping and immature.  This includes Bella, vampires, kids at school and the wolf pack (of which Jocob is a part).  Angela Weber and her boyfriend Ben Cheney are about the nicest kids in the books.
• Unhealthy co-dependency runs rampant (Edward and Bella)
• Two wonderful questions were briefly raised but never explored.  What is humanity?  What does it mean to have a soul? Why, oh why, did you not expand on this, Stephanie??
• The books touch briefly on the idea of power.  The Volturi (vamp police) is power hungry which leads to paranoia and treachery.  They are mostly seen as a necessary evil to maintain order.  On the flip side, the Cullens are also a very powerful coven.  They use their power for the benefit of others.
• The idea that we can overcome our nature and that we have a choice in our actions is championed in these books.  The Cullens embody this idea by abstaining from killing humans and hunting only animals even though it is not easy.
• Prejudice is overcome between the vampires and wolves (natural enemies) enough for them to work together when threatened by a common enemy.  They even begin to forge friendships with one another.
• Perhaps the most aggravating thing in these books to me is that there are NO CONSEQUENCES!! Everything worked out so perfectly for Bella.  She got everything she wanted and everything she didn’t think to ask for.  She was probably not going to be able to keep her mother in her life, but at that point it didn’t seem like a major loss.

Plot-wise, I found most of the story to be pretty predictable.  There was plenty of action and I never found the books really to be boring,  just annoying.  For example, there were arbitrary things thrown into the books that never really tied into anything.  Bella was “hearing” Edward’s voice in the second book whenever she did something dangerous.  I thought that there was a special connection or that this “hearing” would mean something.  It didn’t really seem to mean much of anything, though, and ended up being a ridiculous part of the plot.  I honestly disliked the plot of the fourth book and only enjoyed the story when told from Jacob’s point of view because there was a good deal of humor infused into the story from him.  The series ended leaving me unfulfilled.  The big showdown in the fourth book turned into a game of mental chess as opposed to a violent brawl, but we are left with really  no resolution.  It is clear that the Volturi will most likely not give up trying to weaken the Cullens.

Technically speaking, it is clear that these were Meyer’s first books.  I’m no writer of fiction, but I can tell when someone has really developed their craft.  Meyer has not.  Too many words and phrases were repeated, such as Edward’s arms locking around Bella in an iron cage.  That one was repeated too much.

My advice?  If you only like really well-written fiction that has strong themes, characters and plot, this series would leave you pretty disappointed.  However, if you just want to be entertained and are able to shut your brain off during said entertainment, you might find these books to be kind of fun.  They would be great entertainment while lying on the beach!

Meyer really could have had something special with these books.  Unfortunately, she missed too many marks.  These will not be classics.  The first movie was fun though obviously low-budget with some cheesy special effects.  At least Bella was far less annoying in the movie.

Twilight series rating overall would be PG-13 for violence.  Swearing is PG.  Sexual situations are strong PG to mild PG-13.

Next up, I’m looking at the Harry Potter series.