Joel Quote Series

Written by Karlissa J.

I like to meditate on the Biblical book of Joel.

Climate change has been on my mind lately - it’s been a topic of concern for World Vision (see their articles on poverty and climate migrants) - and the pictures in the book of Joel seem relevant to a climate change affected world.

The book describes a land ravaged by locusts, a wilderness fire, and war. Both locusts and wildfires make me think of climate change. (Locust populations soar as a result of unusual weather conditions, meaning climate change may create more locust swarms).

Joel focuses on God’s sovereignty, and turning to Him when disaster hits. It’s a reminder that He is the one who provides nature with what it needs to thrive. It reminds me to pray, to dwell on Him.

Of course, the book of Joel is about spiritual as well as earthly renewal, with verses foreshadowing Pentacost and Jesus’ sacrifice. The final two designs highlight these prophecies.

A Scorpion and a Ladybug

I once read a blog post that warned against the dangerous lesson that can be drawn from The Scorpion and the Frog.

This tale is an ancient one; so ancient, its origins are unclear. Alongside a river, a frog meets a scorpion. The scorpion asks for a ride across. At first, the frog is hesitant to grant this request, but the scorpion promises he won’t sting the frog. The frog trusts the scorpion and gives him a ride. But halfway across, the scorpion stings the frog. As the venom takes hold, and the two are doomed to die together in the middle of the river, the scorpion explains that it’s in his nature to sting.

There are other versions of this story. One with a turtle instead of a frog, where the turtle’s shell shields him from the sting.

And the one that has captured my imagination: The Scorpion and the Ladybug.

Here, the scorpion and the ladybug are good friends, who love each other dearly. Yet the scorpion inevitably stings the ladybug, killing his friend because… it’s his nature.

As the blogger pointed out, this story could be used to warn against giving too much trust towards individuals who have shown themselves dangerous. That’s fine.

But the story can also be used to discourage trusting those who are the “wrong type” of people. Muslims. Blacks. Gays. Anybody we can point to as our “abhorrent other” (as some philosopher defined it).

Encouraging fear and distrust – and discouraging people from helping those in need if they’re “one of them” – is a dangerous ‘moral.’

As I see it, there’s a simple way of repairing the lesson of the story. We tend to imagine ourselves as the innocent ladybug – or frog or turtle – when maybe it’s more accurate to identify with the scorpion.

It’s in our nature to harm others: by our selfishness, our greed, our careless words… even our careless silences.

This doesn’t mean we should avoid people because we can’t be trusted with anyone.

It does mean we need to be prepared to give up part of our very nature in order to truly love another person.

The tale of the Scorpion and the Ladybug enamours me by its very premise: a scorpion and a ladybug, as loving friends? What an oddly charming concept!

Butterflies and Moths

Another summer, another chance to get out and find some cool bugs!

A few years back, I made a checklist of butterflies and moths in the Fort St John area (where I live). There are actually hundreds of species of butterflies and moths in our area - far too many to put on a brochure - but it covers some of the species I’ve come across.

I also created some colouring pages, and fact cards, just for fun.

Feel free to download, print, and use any of these materials!

What kinds of butterflies and moths live around you?

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The Locust

Time for another bug post!

Did you know that, once upon a time, we had locusts in Canada?

Every year, there comes a season in our region - Northeast British Columbia - where grasshoppers seem abundant. As you walk through town, every several steps, you disturb one and send it hopping across the sidewalk; crashing into storefront windows; or flying into the street.

I watched videos of a desert locust swarm. It became hauntingly apparent from those clips that our “abundance” of grasshoppers is… nothing. A desert locust swarm is, as the Bible so poignantly puts it, an army. Forceful. Purposeful. Crowded.

But… can you believe we once had swarms like that in parts of Canada and the United States? A species called the Rocky Mountain Locust plagued prairie farmers until it’s sudden disappearance in 1902.

Some scientists (perhaps the ones fascinated by grim history and horror stories) suggest our locust isn’t extinct: just dormant in a non-swarming form. That’s one funny trait locusts have: they switch between swarming and non-swarming forms, and the two are so biologically different they seem to be different species.

I’ve put together a little storyboard about locusts and the people affected by them! Click the far right image to move forward, and the far left to move backwards.

f you’d like to help people suffering from locust plagues and other food crises, organizations like World Vision have a special fund set aside for such problems.

Fsjcritters

For the last few years, I’ve been casually working on a series of designs for a project I called “fsjcritters.”

The goal of fsjcritters was to draw attention to often-overlooked animals and habitats in the Fort St John area, using visuals like brochures, cards, and infographics.

My hope was that I would learn to embrace the wildlife where I live, instead of always wishing I lived somewhere else.

I believe I’ve succeeded in that. Though I consider the designs less responsible for my change of attitude than my husband, who loves many local critters and has inspired me with his passion!

So, I’ve decided to officially end this project.

As a part of saying “farewell” to fsjcritters, I’ve decided to create a condensed, ‘sampler’ version of my designs over the years.

Does this mean I won’t be creating any more designs about local wildlife? I might yet. I’ve just found myself making other types of designs lately. Designs I’ll hopefully be sharing on my website before too long.

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Distractions 2020

The cards for the game I invented arrived!

I should explain…

When I first became a writer for the video game team Soltorch Games, I felt out of my league. Someone recommended to me “Slay the Dragon” (by Robert Denton Bryant), a book about writing for video games.

One of the exercises the book suggests is creating a (simple) board game, to learn about how game mechanics work.

I decided to go with a card game instead, and… well… I turned a simple exercise into a chance to stretch myself creatively.

It couldn’t take that long to invent a card game, right?

After several months of play-testing with family, adjusting the mechanics, designing and re-designing the cards in Canva, I ordered my deck through Make Playing Cards. And they look amazing! “The Bug Zoo Game” now feels like an official card game!

So… what did I learn about making video games through this exercise?

Well, honestly… I guess I learned that, if you want to write for a video game, you should probably spend more time writing, and less time turning a simple exercise into a months-long project.

But it was lots of fun!

I’m not sure I’ll be creating another card game anytime soon, though I’m glad I gave this one a try. Between this project and the designs I’ve been doing lately, maybe I haven’t been spending as much time on writing as I could. But I think I needed the break, to try something new.

Paper Wasp Part 2

Paper Wasp forced her wings to flap, and she took to the air, abandoning her half-started nest. I will find myself some food, and lay down under a rock. And I will sleep, for as long as I can.

And when she woke up? I don’t know what I’ll do then.

She thought of the grasshoppers: always taking, always happy, never crying.

She thought of the scorpion: never trying, never failing, always fine.

And she thought of the ant: always practical, always confident, never praying.

Maybe, she thought, maybe I’m just the saddest, silliest, and stupidest of all creatures. Maybe, if I’m lucky, my life will end before tomorrow. Then, I’ll never have to wonder again if creating is worthwhile or beauty is real.

Her wings took her deep into the forest, past tree after tree.

She’d told herself she was looking for food, though her eyes never landed on anything. Instead, she gazed into the air before her, unthinking. Mindlessly, she flew on and on.

Soon, she’d gone deeper into the forest than she’d ever been.

Her heavy heart weighed her down, until at last, she could go no further. She landed on the ground, numb to her surroundings.

Paper Wasp sat there silently. A long time or a short time, she didn’t know. But after a time, she heard a Voice whisper through her mind.

“Get up,” the Voice encouraged. “Get up, and finish your nest.”

Is that you, God? She wondered. She remembered the ant’s words and thought scornfully: It could just be in my head, my own imagination playing tricks on me.

“Get up,” the Voice said again. “Get up, and finish your nest.”

“Why bother?” Paper Wasp replied aloud. “The world is owned by the people who take, not the people who build. Someone will just come and destroy all the hard work I’ve done.”

“Get up,” the Voice said. “Get up, and finish your nest.”

“But who needs a nest?” Paper Wasp argued. “I could live wherever I feel like it, free of cares and free of work. If I don’t bother trying, I won’t ever fail.”

“Get up,” the Voice said. “Get up, and finish your nest.”

“How do I know that I’m not just talking to myself?” She retorted.

Her mind filled with silence. Even the air around her felt still and empty. She waited there a moment, unsure what to do next.

I can’t live like this, she realized. What would be better? Should I sit around and soak in my anguish, wondering whether creating is silly, work is worthwhile, and beauty is real? Or should I get up and try to build my nest some more?

So she forced herself up, and flew out to gather some wood. She chipped away at a tree, then took back her bit of wood to her nest, and worked on another layer of paper.

Paper Wasp worked until the sun set that day. Weary, she settled down for the night.

When the sun rose again, she took in a deep breath of the new air. The new day didn’t cheer her sad heart. But she determined: I will press on.

So she made another layer of paper, and another. As she did, her sadness faded into the back of her mind. She focused on her work, on making her nest beautiful.

At last, she finished her job. She flew in circles around her nest, examining it from every angle.

“It is good,” she decided. And she felt a hint of joy slip into her tired heart. Then, she settled down to sleep.

She didn’t notice that a human had been watching her work. He stared at her intently as she chipped wood and molded her paper.

“What a useful thing, this wasp’s paper,” the man said to himself. “Useful, and beautiful. I wonder if I could make some of my own…”

And so, mankind learned the art of paper-making from the Paper Wasp. Yet, the Paper Wasp probably never learned how she changed the course of human history. She only continued to do what she was made to do.