Post apocalyptic romance???

I was in the bookstore the other day trolling around poking in all the corners including the teen section to get some ideas and feed back from my kids about what kind of stories they want to be reading over the impending summer vacation. I began to notice something that was pinpointed to me a few days earlier when my daughter brought home her book order form.

The younger generation seems to be preoccupied with a post apocalyptic mind set. They seem to feel that everything is falling apart in a manner that is irreparable and certain to lead to only decay and rot for the future. So much so do they resonate with this thought form that it is actually a marketing tool for budding and veteran authors. My daughter's book order form actually had a section called post apocalyptic romance! My eldest, who has no idea what he wants to do with himself after school, has a definite Zombie Apocalypse survival plan that makes FEMA look like a jr. bake sale organizer.

My Father and I were having a conversation that discussed similar things. The point sort of circled around and whacked me on the head like a rude face palm moment. He was explaining to me that a lot of what we are witnessing with these sort of attitude with our younger generation is that they feel that our generation and the one before us has lost the moral authority to lead. Therefore, they must make their way through the ruins we have left them and make their own rules to survive the future we have cultivated for them. I can't say that I think that he is wrong.

Just in the last decade we have proven this to them. All we have to do is point out two events: Katrina and BP oil disaster. I am sure that we can list many more as we roll back through a decade or so. Those events alone are enough to get both my elder children all sorts of foaming at the mouth mad. While the entire generation is not to blame for the whole bad apple case, but like they say it only takes one bad apple to make the whole barrel rotten.

On the upside of all of this doom and gloom that our children seem to be slathering all over their brain cells (yes there is actually an upside) They see hope that balance can be restored. Why else would they be interested in post apocalyptic romance stories??? The other part of that upswing is that they are making plans on how to survive disasters regardless if it's a Zombie Apocalypse or a devastating natural event. They are planning to become leaders and healers. I find that comforting even if it is born out of a preoccupation with impending doom. Another upside is that our kids are reading, even if it is found in the post apocalyptic romance section. I think the Harry Potter stories have given them the spine and where with all to tackle these things boldly with a positive mindset  and believe that they can emerge victorious.

The Holy Ones that love us. . .

I went and saw Thor for my birthday the other day. While I am not Norse and nor am I a follower of the  Norse Gods, It brought to mind several concepts that I do adhere to. Our Grandmaster had a quote that I love: "The Holy ones love us with the same love with which we love one another, but raised to the power of Divinity. It is older than law. It is older than reason." 


That being said, the Gods also must have other emotions raised to the same power. In my mind they not only have complicated relationships with the other Gods in their realms, but also potential foes with the same power as they. The Gods, therefore must have similar vehicles of learning things like honor, mirth, reverence, integrity. For Thor, it was a banishment. Stripped of all power, he was made to be human. Odin, his father and possibly greatest teacher, had no problem with tossing him into the ocean and leaving him to sink or swim on is own. This is a mark of a wise and great teacher, divinity or not. It was not done out of anger, even though in the moment Odin was indeed angry with his son, it was done out of love. An inner knowing that his son could do better with the proper lesson. I think we call this tough love.

I also loved the idea that Bifrost in this movie was a real, tangible bridge that could reach out into the universe and touch other realms; that all realms were united by the tree of life, Yggdrasil. Many pagan traditions speak of the tree of life. As pagans we can relate to how all things, including realms in the Universe, can be connected by this. I thought this was an eloquent discussion within the movie. My own experience with the Gods suggests that the Gods are much more than we could imagine and magic just may be a technology we do not understand yet. I wonder how many times we have actually run into one of these Gods unaware. There are many stories in folk lore that speak of this phenomenon. Even today in Hawai'i there are very recent stories of running into Pele. In my mind this is very plausible that I may run into Hecate, Krom, or any other God within any other pantheon that chooses to appear.

I believe that the Gods are real and imminent. They are not some far off intangible being with a half hearted interest that move us across an invisible chess board. I believe that they love us with their immense hearts and want the best for us inspite of the fact that some of them have a very different perspective on what the pattern of life looks like.

At the end of the movie when Thor is looking over the edge of the broken bridge between the worlds, he is asking about the human he had fallen for and seems pleased, elated even, that she is seeking him out. He is looking out into the Universe knowing that he is loved as much as he loves. Seekers, give yourself permission to find and you too will be elated. Don't just give yourself permission, go do it, with what ever means you have on hand. Love and you will be loved in return. That is a promise.