Book-Bat
Exploring the world of fantasy from a Christian perspective!
Post by Karlissa J.
I’ve now received my copies of The Promise!
It’s been exciting, finally being able to share my first trilogy with my readers! And to honour the occasion, my husband set up a surprise celebration - complete with ice cream cake!
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!
The creatures and races in Tales of the Diversity are otherworldly. But with a little imagination, some brave artists have tackled the task of bringing them to life in pictures and models!
In my blog post “Looking Back: Art,” I shared some old concepts I drew for the creatures and characters; art I created before writing the books.
And in “Concept: Awareness,” I shared a sketch I created of Jakodi Jair.
I’ve held two art contests for Tales of the Diversity, and shared the amazing entries I received in “2020 Art Contest Winners” and “Art Contest 2 Winners.”
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?
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.
To think: the year 2020 will be over in just a few weeks.
A lot has changed over the course of this year. I know I’ve gained a new perspective on life. One for which I’m not ungrateful.
This year has brought both pain and joy for me: the sadness of events surrounding the pandemic and the sense of unrest; and the joy of my new baby girl.
When all the craziness of 2020 started, I hoped to come through this year with greater wisdom and strength. And I believe I have gained both.
I was reminded that prayer can be more than an activity I pursue on the side. If I’m more intentional about it, it can change me, my priorities, and how I see the world. Maybe it can even change the world itself.
Racism wasn’t really on my radar before. Thanks to this year, I’ve realized I spent my time thinking about cultures far away, and forgetting that other cultures live alongside my own. Cultures practiced by people who, quite fairly, can feel sidelined, ignored, or unheard.
What to do with that knowledge… I’m still learning.
I feel like this year has marked the start of a new journey for me. Maybe some of you feel the same way.
I could go on, but I believe I’ve rambled enough for now. I’ll leave with this final note…
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.
