Dancing Prince: Anticipating a DNA Study of Vikings?

Some strange things have occasionally happened with the Dancing Priest stories. Strange, as in they anticipated some real news events. Each of the novels has an example of this, to the point where it spooked my wife and even my publisher.

And now comes Dancing Prince, published in July of this year. 

In mid-September, scientists in Denmark and Armenia published a study in Nature that reported on the largest DNA study of Vikings ever done. The Vikings, as it turns out, were a far mar diverse lot that anyone had previously known. Yes, a preponderance of the DNA was associated with the Nordic countries like Sweden and Denmark, but the researchers also found that the Vikings were not a homogenous group. The DNA included connections to southern Europe and Asia.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest. 

Photograph by Steinar Engeland via Unsplash. Used with permission.

We are the people

After John 17:9,10

It’s a slam, or slams,

as the world delights

in death and destruction,

pointing fingers at sin

and contradiction

and the fall.

The world loves this,

and if we’re honest,

we know this and

we know this hurts,

this tearing at our hearts

when one of us falls

hard,

and the world rejoices

over the shame. But,

and it’s a big But, we know

something else, something

more important, more vital,

more critical than any taunt

or justified criticism or fall

or stumble, and that is

we are the people,

we are the people of God,

the rock of our protection,

we are a possession, a gift

from out this world,

and we are owned because

we are the people of God,

created by a fierce love.

Photograph by Craig Whitehead via Unsplash. Used with permission.