Time Traveling Unicorns
How to face chaos in the world
St Patricks Breastplate
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In the predictions of prophets, In the preaching of apostles, In the faith of confessors, In the innocence of holy virgins, In the deeds of righteous men. I arise today, through The strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock. I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near. I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul; Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me an abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.
Reading A Wrinkle in Time is one of the most formative childhood reading memories. The visceral compulsion of the disembodied brain controlling a planet lives rent-free in my brain. It was the beginning of a fascination with the science fiction genre beyond the realm of space operas. A Swiftly Tilting Planet is the third Madeline L’Engle Time Quintet science fiction series. I don't blame you if you did not make it past Wrinkle. They are all kind of bonkers. At this current moment, I think Planet might be the most relevant.
A quick summary: Meg is an adult, pregnant with her first child, and Charles Wallace is 15. The book opens with a Thanksgiving dinner interrupted by a call from the President telling the Murry family and its gathered friends that nuclear war is imminent. Through a series of events, Charles Wallace travels back in time while remaining connected to Meg in the present, and they change the choices of several generations of colonists and indigenous peoples to prevent the nuclear war from occurring.
Every chapter of the book has an epigraph from St. Patrick’s Breastplate. Specifically, from this section:
I arise today, through The strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock. I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul.
Madeline L’Engle takes some creative liberty with the text and uses it as a rune of protection. As with many of her stories, this one is a strange blend of faith and science.
People have always sought to make meaning of their lives and their world. The major world religions are the most organized methods of making meaning, but they are far from the only ones. Science and spirituality have been competing for the past few centuries, but plenty of people hold space for both.
Understanding the importance of “both/and” thinking is helpful when we look at the chaos of American culture and politics. So many people want the world to be black-and-white. To be honest, I would prefer it myself. However, that is just not realistic. Arguments can be made in favor of decreasing government spending, cutting through bureaucratic red tape, and a general overhaul of systems that have outlived their usefulness. I do not think it needs to be done with a wholesale dismissal of the jobs of 10s of thousands. The idea of a meritocracy is complicated because we have to wonder: who determines merit?
Sadly, time travel is not a reality, and we cannot go back and get clarifying answers from the people of the past. Even if we could, it is unlikely that their answers would satisfy most people. Nor do we have the chance to change the present by going into the past. Time-traveling unicorns will not get us out of the mess we are in today, but we do not need to give into despair. There are still choices. We can make the choice to have courage and be kind today. We can rise against cruel and merciless power through the mighty strength of the Creator of Creation.
For the Ears
I'm listening to a lot of different podcasts right now. This one is a look at all sorts of women in the church and how they have been silenced.
For the Eyes
Reading all five of the Time books would be an excellent reading project. Maybe another time for me, though. There are too many other books I am trying to read or reread.
For the Taste Buds
When I was a child, we only ate cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day. However, I incorporate it regularly into our family meals. This is because I saute strips of cabbage in butter. It takes less than 10 minutes and is one of my children’s favorite vegetables. Parents take the win where we can.
May this week bring joy to your senses and your soul.