“Blue Lightning” by Ann Cleeves

Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez is taking a week’s vacation from work. He’s bringing his fiancé Fran to his home island of Fair Isle to meet his parents. Fair Isle is the most distant of the Shetland Islands, and it could be argued whether it’s in the North Sea or the North Atlantic. One thing that can’t be argued, however, is that Fair Isle is a mecca for birders – birdwatchers who come from all over the world to see a rather amazing variety of birds.

The warden for the nature preserve that exists on Fair Isle is both a PhD and television celebrity, whose claim to fame was the discovery of an incredibly rare bird. She lives at the preserve (which includes a lighthouse and attached inn) with her much older husband. She also has a penchant for much younger men.

Then she’s found dead in her study, a knife in her back and bird feathers artfully arranged in her hair. Because of the bad weather, Jimmy Perez has to investigate the crime. And it’s particularly perplexing because everyone and no one seems to have a motive – the dead woman’s husband, any of her many lovers, the cook, the guests currently staying at the preserve, and even local inhabitants. 

Then there’s a second murder, one which leads to the inescapable conclusion that Jimmy’s own father is involved.

Blue Lightning by British mystery writer Ann Cleevesis the story of what happens on Fair Isle, which seems loosely based on the real island of Foula, known as “the most remote inhabited island in Britain.” Cleeves pulls off what is rare in mystery writing – a story that seems maddeningly slow while simultaneously moving faster and faster. There may be no place like home, but Jimmy Perez soon finds himself wishing he was anywhere but home, particularly having to improvise without an initial crime scene team.

Ann Cleeves

Cleeves has published seven mysteries in the Jimmy Perez / Shetland series, including Raven Black (2008), Red Bones(2009), White Nights (2010), Blue Lightning (2011), Dead Water (2014), Thin Air (2015), and Cold Air (2017). She’s also published eight mystery novels in the Vera Stanhope series (also a television series), six Inspector Stephen Ramsay mysteries, and several others works and short stories. The Jimmy Perez novels are the basis for the BBC television series “Shetland.” Cleeves lives in northeastern England.

Blue Lightning is filled with twists, turns, and often unexpected developments. I didn’t see the ending coming (although there were hints; Cleeves doesn’t mislead her readers) and it whacked me. It’s a solid measure of the writer’s skill when readers become emotionally invested in a story’s characters. Cleeves has that skill down pat.

Related:

My review of Red Bones by Ann Cleeves.

My review of Raven Black by Ann Cleeves.

My review of White Nights by Ann Cleeves.

Top photograph: a scene from the Isle of Foula in the Shetlands, an island not6 unlike the Fair Isle ofBlue Lightning, including the attractions for birders. Photo courtesy of Cruisemapper.

“Secret Power” by Dwight Moody

One of best known pitfalls of Christian life, and especially evangelical Christian life, is the reliance upon self. The culture of evangelical Christianity often contributes to this reliance – the often intense focus on a personal relationship with God, the Christian self-help publishing industry and its “10 steps to his” and the “7 steps for that, and the American work ethic of self-reliance. 

While some measure of self is certainly involved and necessary, 19^thcentury evangelist Dwight Moodywould argue that there an older and far more effective source of success, one that has been with us since the founding of the church. In Secret Power: The Secret of Success in Christian Life and Work, he explains what that resource is – the Holy Spirit. Originally published in 1881, Secret Powerhas been updated and reissued as an e-book. 

Arguably the least understood of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit made its first appearance in the New Testament after Jesus’s ascension into heaven. He told his disciples to wait for the helper, and as recorded in the Book of Acts, the helper soon came, and rather dramatically, materializing as a great wind and tongues of fire above each the disciples, enabling them to speak in foreign languages (Acts 2).

In Secret Power, Moody says the Holy Spirit is the source of Christians’ power. He says the Spirit does three essential things: imparts power, inspires hope, and gives liberty. He describes how the Spirit comes, how it manifests itself within the life of a Christian, how it functions, and how it can be hindered. It’s a relatively short work but a plain, powerful one.

Dwight Moody

Dwight Moody (1837-1899) was an evangelist, publisher, educator, writer, church founder, and a number of other things. He founded the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Moody Press, and the Northfield and Mount Hermon schools in Massachusetts. He became an evangelist when he visited Britain in 1872, and his meetings were often attended by thousands of people. One notable event at the Royal Botanic Gardens drew a crowd of between 15,000 and 30,000 people.

Secret Poweris still a solid primer on the Holy Spirit and its work. It may not answer every question, but it provides a good basis of understanding and a platform for further study.

Related: My review of How to Study the Bible by Dwight Moody.

Top photograph by Frank McKenna viaUnsplash. Used with permission.

“The Fall of Arthur” – A Fragment by J.R.R. Tolkien

Blame it on Geoffrey of Monmouth(c.1095-c.1155). 

About the year 1136, Geoffrey published The History of the Kings of Britain. The account began with the founding of the British nation by the Trojans after the Greek-Trojan War, continuing through the arrival of the Anglo Saxons in the 7^thcentury. The work included the first known account of King Lear and his daughters, and it included an official account of King Arthur, the Knights of the Roundtable, and the prophecies of Merlin.

The work was accepted as history well into the 16^thcentury. It turned out to be mostly but not entirely fiction. But it was Geoffrey who first formalized the legend of King Arthur, which was further elaborated by Thomas Malory(1415-1471) and his Morte d’Arthur. (It was a Frenchman, however, Chretien de Troyes, who added Lancelot and the Holy Grail to the story.)

Arthur is a legend that still captivates – the idealist warrior who wanted to govern in a different way but ultimately betrayed by those he loved most, and those who loved him. Arthur has given us some of most enduring literary works, including Idylls of the Kingby Alfred Lord Tennyson. He’s also given us the widely popular versions of the story, including the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, thenovels by Mary Stewart, and the Broadway musical and movie Camelot.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Dancing King Stories: The Coronation at Westminster Abbey

In the 1040s, King Edward of England (later St. Edward the Confessor) began to enlarge the church of a small Benedictine monastery near his palace. It was referred to as the “west minster,” to distinguish it from the “east minister,” aka St. Paul’s Cathedral. The large stone church was dedicated to St. Peter.

In 1066, William I invaded and conquered England. On Christmas Day, he was crowned in Edward’s church. Every English and British monarch since 1066 has been crowned in Edward’s church. The complex has grown over the tears, especially during the 13^thto 16^thcenturies. Today, Westminster Abbey is one of the most popular sites in Britain, visited by millions of tourists annually and a center of major worship activities. 

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

“Reimagining Britain” by Justin Welby

The Brexit vote in June of 2016 hit Great Britain like a thunderbolt, not unlike the election of Donald Trump as President hit the United States later that same year. The responses in these two deeply divided countries were also similar. The people who had supported “Remain” in Britain argued loud and strenuously for ways to undo the Brexit vote, much like their counterparts in the U.S. continue to refuse to accept the November 2016 election.

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, has taken a different approach to Brexit. He accepts the decision by voters and then asks the question, “Where do we go from here?” In Reimagining Britain: Foundations for Hope, he invites a conversation about the country’s future by suggesting a variety of ideas and proposals, all based on his Christian faith. And he makes no apology for that. 

“This book is, unsurprisingly and unapologetically, written from a Christian perspective,” he writes. “Because of the Christian foundations of our society in Britain, it draws frequently on more or less well-known traditions and stories in the Bible.” Those Bible stories include the early church sharing in common, as recorded in the Book of Acts; Jesus’s description of the last judgment, from Matthew 25; the parable of the talents; and many others.

Welby proceeds to tackle some of the thorniest issues facing British society, which are not unlike some of the thorniest in American society. Family, education, health, housing, economics and finance, the environment, and immigration all come under what can only be called a loving scrutiny. He considers each from a Christian perspective, broadening into a larger discussion of what might be possible in a post-Brexit Britain. That’s the idea of “reimagining” a nation aspiring to its best impulses.

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

Welby worked in the oil industry for 11 years before entering the ministry. He became a member of the evangelical Anglican church of Holy Trinity in Brompton, in South Kensington, London, and in 1989 experienced a call to the ministry. He was first rejected for ordination by the Bishop of Kensington but later accepted by the vicar of Brompton. He served churches and cathedrals at Coventry, Liverpool, and several other cities, and was appointed Bishop of Durham in 2011 (which also made him a member of the House of Lords). He was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 2012. He has previously published Dethroning Mammon: Making Money Serve Grace(2016). 

Reimagining Britain is not a conservative book. Neither is it a liberal or progressive book. It slips away from political labels, and asks that Britons consider a future based on the values that bind them together. Welby is making a claim for the church in the national debate about Britain’s future. And he’s well ahead of many of Brexit’s critics who are still stuck in a rejection of the decision. 

Top photograph: A view of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London from the Tate Modern.

Defining a child

After I John 2:28-3:10

To define a child

(“come to me as little children”)

Isn’t so problematic,

At first glance, at least:

Do what is right,

love your brother (brother

defined in the generic sense,

demanding far more than what

is currently cultural).

Do what is right: means

be like him who does right

all the time. We despair:

how is that even possible?

He does right all the time

and we know we do not.

But when he abides within

it is sufficient for transformation.

Photograph by Caroline Hernandez via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Saturday Good Reads

I occasionally give universities and education in general some grief in this space, so it’s only fair to note a story by Jerry Adams at The Educator’s Room. He lists 10 things teachers did not have to deal with 10 years ago. Like mobile phones. At the school where I occasionally do substitute teaching, students have to park their cell phones in a wall “pouch pack” during class. Smart.

John Copenhaver at CrimeReads suggests a reason for the popularity of crime fiction. The story usually ends in closure. And The Guardian asked crime writers to name a favorite novel. One, Scotland’s Ian Rankin, picked Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

Alastair Roberts is a theologian in the north of England who actually gives theology a good name – he makes it approachable for the rest of us. He writes on all kinds of topics, and he’s a frequent speaker both in the UK and the U.S. What couldn’t help but catch my eye was a recent post called “Priest, King, Prophet.” (I have a novel called Dancing Priest, and one called Dancing King. Perhaps he knew the working title for the next one is Dancing Prophet?)

Should every writer read poetry? Yes, says literary agent Janet Reid. And a field guide to how to stay in church, a map pf London slang, Chopin for everyone, David Rupert on why Jesusis for losers, where Nutella came from, and more. 

Life and Culture

10 Things Teachers DID NOT Have to Deal With 10 Years Ago– Jeremy Adams at The Educators Room. 

Handicapping History– Joseph Woodard at The Imaginative Conservative.

Writing and Literature

Why every writer should read poetry– Janet Reid, Literary Agent. 

Closure: Crime Fiction's Most Satisfying and Elusive Gift– John Copenhaver at CrimeReads.

Top crime writers choose their perfect crime– The Guardian (Hat Tip: J of India).

Why Christian Bookstores Are in Decline– Sarah Boll at Marketing Christian Books.

British Stuff

The Map of London Slang– Spitalfields Life.

Scotland’s Evangelical Island Gets Its First Mosque– Danny Webster at Christianity Today. 

Faith

How to Stay in Church: A Field Guide– Aaron Smith at Altarwork.

Jesus is for losers (Count me in)– David Rupert at Red-Letter Believers.

Why Do I Keep Returning to The Lord of the Rings?– Zak Schmoll at Entering the Public Square.

Sowing the Seeds of Love– ED at Image Journal.

Priest, King, Prophet– Alastair Roberts at Alastair’s Adversaria. 

Poetry

Jeff Gundy’s “Calm Sunday in Klaipeda”– D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

Three American Poets: Dickinson, Frost, and Stevens– A Conversation with Mark Bauerlein at First Things Magazine.

Listening – Tim Good at Naked Alien.

Music

Chopin for Everyone– Terez Rose at The Imaginative Conservative.

Art and Photography

Dust up– Ton Darin Liskey via Facebook.

Nutella – the Miracle of WW2

Painting: Young Man Reading, oil on canvas by Isidore Alexandre Augustin Pils (1813-1875).