Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier is here!

For the last two years, I have had my head down on some big editing projects. In 2021, I received invitations to submit a few book proposals to academic publishers, and now I’m happy to say that 2023 promises to be a big year for publications for me.

And the first resulting book has now arrived! My good friend, teacher and one of my partners in editing, Amy H. Sturgis (visit her website here) and I are proud to announce that our first co-edited volume, Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier is now published by Vernon Press! The book is available at the publisher’s website here, on Amazon, and other places academic books are sold.

Continue reading “Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier is here!”

Liturgical Loneliness

In Ohio, public worship resumes for Catholics this weekend, and I have a confession to make: I haven’t missed receiving the Eucharist once since the pandemic began. I feel guilty even typing that, since so many folks have had to settle for “spiritual communion” during these long weeks and months of quarantine. A woman told me recently that not being able to receive Jesus has felt like a piece of her heart is missing. A liturgy scholar I know said receiving communion again recently, for the first time in months, was like celebrating his first communion all over again. I bet it was even better.

Quarantined Palm Sunday (photo by Emily)

I am simply lucky – that’s why I’ve been at the Eucharistic table in a physical way during this time. I am lucky our Church decided to live-stream our Mass, when so many neighboring parishes simply – and with profound regret – closed their doors. I am lucky to have musical gifts that benefit our live-streamed Mass. I am lucky to have had parents who taught me to recognize my gifts as God-given, and return them to God, in service of the Church, whenever possible. I am lucky that my gifts are found useful by my parish community. I am lucky to be under 65 with no underlying health issues. I am lucky to have stayed well.

But I do not feel lucky when I look down from the choir loft at a nearly-empty Church, at an absent assembly. I just feel lonely. And liturgical loneliness is a difficult thing.

Continue reading “Liturgical Loneliness”

Moving Ministry Online

These are weird, wild times we live in. Masses are not cancelled where I live (yet), but COVID-19 has caused our Bishops to dispense us from our Sunday obligation for the next three weeks. My parish has cancelled all non-essential (that seems to mean non-sacramental) gatherings. This includes our weekly choir and ensemble rehearsal, though we are still permitted to gather and sing/play for Mass on Sundays, with the important instructions to stay home if members are particularly vulnerable and/or experiencing symptoms of any kind.

On one hand, we could take this ban on non-essential gatherings as an invitation to relax while we deal with this unprecedented public health crisis. Tuesday night choir will be one less thing to worry about as we all focus on staying healthy and safe.

Continue reading “Moving Ministry Online”

Reactions to The Rise of Skywalker: Delights and Disappointments

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER!

Last night I saw Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker for the second time, and I’m ready to share some reactions, film critic though I am not. I feel honored that several friends have asked for my reactions to the film, and in gratitude for their interest, I post here some of the many aspects of the film that delighted me and a few that disappointed.

image property of Disney/Lucasfilm

Delight: This film was well acted, not just by its main characters but by its entire ensemble cast. Special mention goes to Daisy Ridley as Rey and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren Ben Solo. Well done, all.

Disappointment: Obviously it’s disappointing (in a profound way) that Carrie Fisher died before she could film this final installment. J.J. Abrams cobbled her quite significant role in this film together from unused The Last Jedi footage. The result is… uneven, especially in scenes with Rey. Sometimes their dialogues (built from existing footage of Leia) roll like the young Jedi apprentice is having a conversation with a Magic 8-Ball. Other times they (almost?) work. The filmmakers took quite a risk, placing so much emphasis on a character whose actor had died. I’m not sure that risk paid off, cinematically. Leia’s significant role is certainly emotionally fulfilling for audiences, but relies too heavily on the audience’s established relationship with this long-beloved character.

Delight: The mother-son Force connection between Leia and Ben. Star Wars’ exploration of Father-Son relationships is, historically, thorough-going to the near exclusion of other types of family relationships, especially that of mother and child. The film implies that Leia’s mother-love for Ben indelibly connects them in the Force and is part of what saves Ben, though the actors never come face-to-face (see above). Moms have never gotten enough narrative attention in Star Wars, so I was glad to see this in the new film.

Disappointment: That said, I wish more time could have been spent on exploring this mother-child connection. (I also really wish someone would talk about Luke and Leia’s very accomplished, kind and interesting mother Padmé once in a while.) I found Leia as a mother to be a far more intriguing and human side of her character than “Leia as a Jedi trainee.” Personally, I didn’t need The General to possess a lightsaber (especially one she never used) to consider her one of the most admirable characters in fantasy. Anyway, I hope the future of the franchise branches out to explore motherhood more, or at least more types of familial relationships than Father-Child and sibling dyads.

Delight: Force-healing powers. One of the most fascinating books in the vast universe of Star Wars ancillary literature (canon or not) is The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force by Daniel Wallace (published in 2010, so “Legends,” but who really cares at this point?). What’s more, sequel trilogy directors Rian Johnson and J.J. Abrams have mined this informative little book to expand canonical dimensions of Force ability. (Johnson has been open about his use of the book; it informs Luke’s ability to create a doppelganger of himself at the end of The Last Jedi.) For those of us familiar with The Jedi Path, Rey’s Force-healing powers were quite believable (for my qualms, see below). Wallace’s book informs us that “Jedi Healers use their connection to the Living Force to save the lives of the dying and to cure the infected.” (123) I’d love to see more exploration of Jedi Force-powers in the future of Star Wars, so this made a lovely addition to the canon. (Side note: if you’d like to know more about the beautiful golden hue of Rey’s new lightsaber and what it signifies about her particular character as a Jedi, see The Jedi Path section on Jedi Sentinels.)

Disappointment:These powers probably needed to be introduced sooner in the trilogy to be believable and relevant to general audiences as the save-all which they became. I also wish we knew if Rey’s Force-healing abilities were inherent (as they seem to be in the Child’s from the Disney+ live-action show The Mandalorian), or if she trained to acquire them. If she learned them, did Kylo Ren Ben Solo learn them also? (If so, when? And is that consistent with his character?) Or was he able to perform such healing because of his “Force-dyad” connection to Rey? Or… or… ? It’s sad we don’t have another installment to answer these questions.

image property of Disney/Lucasfilm

Delight: C-3PO. Anthony Daniels shone in this film, and not just because of his gold-clad coverings. It’s hard sometimes to appreciate that there’s a real guy in that suit – a very thin guy, with amazing posture – who’s been in every one of nine Star Wars main saga films, not-so-silently filling in expository gaps and creating humor, continuity and dilemmas for the main characters. In this film, his character is particularly well written and acted, with surprising moments of tenderness that speak to the franchise’s generations-long emphasis on the power of friendship. Threepio’s memory wipe also nodded to (echoed? rhymed with?) Revenge of the Sith, which featured Threepio’s last known memory wipe, and his “programming difficulty” in interpreting the Sith language pointed to Return of the Jedi, in which he could not pretend to be a god to the Ewoks, creating a major dilemma for the main characters, whom the Ewoks held captive. (Plus, turns out when you put him in a brown cloak, he looks like a really tall Jawa, to hilarious effect.)

Disappointment: The choices of characters in this film had few real costs for the audience. Threepio’s memory wipe is a good if minor example: the sacrifice he made is lessened, even nullified when R2-D2 simply restores his memory upon his return. (Plus, Threepio continually introducing himself to main characters was hilarious and should have continued.) A much more significant example of the film’s “cost deficiency” was Rey’s Force-healing powers, which she seems to be able to wield without cost. As fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson and others have outlined, magic must be limited in some way to be believable in fantasy stories, must have clear costs to those who wield it. Of course there was a cost to Kylo Ren Ben Solo, but come on, we all knew he wasn’t going to make it out of this film, didn’t we? After all, his theme resolves to a major key in the trailer… never a good sign for a villain!

Delight: Rey is a Skywalker. Star Wars has always celebrated found families, and Rey’s intentional choice to be a Skywalker is a great extension of this emphasis. I delighted also in certain character’s found Force-sensitivity. I suspect what Finn wanted to express to Rey as they were sinking in sand was not undying romantic love so much as his desire – and ability – to learn to use the Force as she does. The Sequels have, from their inception, sought to walk back the Prequels portrayal of the Force as something reserved for the few with “midichlorians” in their blood. Characters like Finn, Jannah and others in the Sequels hold a promise for the future of the Jedi, or simply just Force-manipulation, for the good of the cosmos. Sometimes, that is how the Force works.

Disappointment: Rey is a Palpatine. Really? Do we absolutely have our best story-spinners on the job here? This is one of many elements of the film that seemed a “safe” or “warmed over” choice for general audiences rather than an interesting, though-provoking choice that would have tied in with the franchise’s own ancillary materials. I also have a hard time believing that old Palpy just rested his laurels while building that army… for 30 years. (I guess he was just hanging around… sorry, couldn’t resist.)

Delight: new characters, creatures and cameos. Babu Frik (voiced by Shirley Henderson of Moaning Myrtle fame!), D-O the droid (voiced by J.J. Abrams himself), the troop of space-horse-riding Stormtrooper deserters, Poe’s old associate Zorii and Allegiant General Pryde all make great additions to the galaxy far, far away. Cameos by John Williams (!), Lin Manuel Miranda (who also wrote the music for “a planet”, which I’m guessing is the very danceable tune playing for the festival on the planet Pasaana), and vocal contributions by all your favorite Jedi also made my day (especially Hayden Christensen! Go Ani! Bring that balance!).

Disappointment: I read Rebecca Roanhorse’s Resistance Reborn, one of the “Journey to” books for the new films, which was NOT a disappointment, BUT: based on that story, I expected Wedge Antilles to have more than one line in this film.

Delight: That kiss. Cinematically, the kiss between Rey and Ben worked, and made tangible how far their relationship has come – a bit like Ron and Hermione’s, occasioned as it was by Ron “getting” the house-elf dilemma (finally). Ben’s smile afterward was perhaps even more charming. The romantic in me loved it, as did small group of Rey/Ben shippers in the cinema of my first viewing (there was a short-lived but exuberant, all-female cheer from one corner). That their kiss is drawn as a joyful moment implicitly questions the Jedi Order’s tradition of celibacy, which played a role in its downfall (think Anakin and Padmé), and I’m all for Jedi Order reform.

Disappointment: That kiss. Is this what balance in the Force has to mean? A heterosexual, romantic union? Was the kiss part of their Force-connection, or just puppy love icing on their Force-dyad cake? I’m in two minds about the kiss, as you can see. I keep asking myself: “What would Qui-Gon Jinn say about it?” (As you do.) Thus far: silence.

I hope you won’t be silent on the comment thread. Please let me know your own delights and disappointments in the film. And May the Force Be With You!

October Happenings: Publications Galore! (And a Conference!)

October has proven a productive month for my scholarship! This month I’ve had two articles (both which were a long time in the making) published in separate peer-reviewed academic journals, I’ve just returned from presenting at an academic conference and I’m beginning work on an essay that will be included in an exciting new scholarly collection. As a (perhaps) not-so-lame excuse for why I’ve been too busy to post new content on this blog, here is a short description of each of these projects and how to access or find out more about them. Thanks for indulging me in a little horn-tooting!

First, my essay “Harry Potter and the Sacramental Principle” is included in the October 2019 edition (volume 93) of the journal Worship, “a peer-reviewed, international ecumenical journal for the study of liturgy and liturgical renewal” (from the Worship website). This journal was founded in 1926 by one of my personal liturgical heroes, Virgil Michel, OSB, who brought to the blossoming liturgical movement its distinctly American contribution: the notion that the liturgy, if consciously and inclusively celebrated, could bring about profound social regeneration. I’ve had long conversations with Virgil Michel in my scholarly imagination, and it was a thrill I will not soon forget to see my name in the pages of the journal he founded.

My essay details how the depiction of magic in Harry Potter rests conceptually on the same notions about reality that undergird the sacramental life of the Church: that God’s abiding presence is shot through the world around us, if we have eyes to see (just like that “hidden in plain sight” quality of the magic in Harry Potter). Pastorally, the essay urges those in ministry to employ this aspect of the series – and its profound influence on rising generations – to help renew a sacramental imagination in our age. Worship is a print-only journal, so check out your local academic library for a copy, or subscribe through their website. (For those more casually interested, I gave a shorter version of that essay to Ohio State’s Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies’ 2017 conference, Popular Culture and the Deep Past, and you can watch that nutshell version here.)

Second, my essay “Dobby the Robot: the Science Fiction in Harry Potter” appears this month in the special Children’s Literature edition of Mythlore, “a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal published by the Mythopoeic Society that focuses on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and the genres of myth and fantasy” (from the Mythlore website).

It is a great honor to be included in this volume, which also features essays by my friends and fellow speculative fiction scholars Katherine Sas and Kris Swank. And the great news for us all is Mythlore is an open-access journal, so you can access the entire contents of this volume right here. Previous issues are also available.

The “Robots” essay makes an argument that the overriding conceptual source informing house-elves, those beloved yet controversial creatures in Harry Potter, is the trope of the created servant (often expressed as robots) in science fiction. You may think I’ve branched a little far from my focus on the religious themes in literature with this essay, but traditionally, robots as a trope of classic science fiction (and, I argue, house-elves in Harry Potter) seldom appear without invoking thorny ethical questions regarding personhood, free will and human dignity – questions too often relegated to religious discourse. (See this previous post for more.) Also, in researching the history of the robot trope, I discovered its Western origins in Jewish legends of man-shaped automata termed Golems, created to demonstrate a particular rabbi’s mystic holiness. So robots have religious origins as well as invoking questions that interest scholars and adherents of religion. I hope you’ll read my sprawling argument that Dobby is really just a robot in disguise and tell me what you think.

Next, on October 18, I presented my thoughts on the Harry Potter books verses their film adaptations at the 8th annual Harry Potter Academic Conference, hosted as always by Chestnut Hill College outside Philadelphia, PA. (My talk was an expanded and reworked version of this blog post from Hogwarts Professor.) It was a lovely, all-too-quick weekend, as usual, with highlights (for me) including Lana Whited’s talk on dragon and Phoenix imagery in The Crimes of Grindelwald, Travis Prinzi’s look at the allusive relationship between Potter and the old movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Katy McDaniel (host of the academic Harry Potter podcast Reading Writing Rowling)’s look at fan maps as doors to the sacred imaginative spaces created by stories like Harry Potter. (My unofficial favorite moment of the conference was a pumpkin-ale-fueled incident between Laurie Beckoff and Caitlin Harper after the conference which we are now terming “The Great Ron Row of 2019”. Details are hazy, but it suffices to say some people admire Ron Weasley more than others do.) As usual, I can’t wait to return to Chestnut Hill in 2020.

photo courtesy of Louise Freeman

My work is cut out for me upon returning from Chestnut Hill, as I was delighted this summer to have my proposal accepted for a chapter in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter, Volume 2, edited by Dr. Lana Whited of Ferrum College and published by University of Missouri Press. My essay will consider the various parenting styles and relationships in Harry Potter from perspectives of both psychology and religious studies. In the end I hope to show that religious metaphor is the interpretive key to unlock the meaning of these relationships and their influence upon the narrative. But more than that I shan’t say until the thing is written! Stay tuned for a publication date in 2020.

Thanks for allowing me to crow a bit – a fitting activity, perhaps, for this spooky month. Thanks especially to those who have supported me in any way – from allowing me to drivel on at parties about my latest project to dialoguing with me to help make my arguments stronger or better supported to sharing your own Potter ideas. 50 points to your House, whatever it may be!

Re-learning mortality as gift

Last year, my father died on the day before Ash Wednesday. He was 85 years old, and he’d lived a wonderful, respectable Christian life, full of charity toward others, including prison ministry in his retirement. He’d enjoyed a fulfilling professional career, been a good friend to many, and was happily married for over 50 years to a wonderful woman with whom he’d raised a big, happy family. Letting go of this kind, funny, intelligent and loving man was hard and sad, but something about it also felt right. It was Dad’s time, and we’ll all have our time.

Ash Wednesday invites us all to reflect on “our time” – to remember that indeed our time approaches, even if still far off. We wear ashes on our foreheads to symbolize, as a recent NPR article put it, that we are all “dust-creatures”. There is an impermanence to our earthly lives that we must never forget, lest we fail to live lives of charity and love with every breath. Psalm 95 says, “If today you hear God’s voice/harden not your hearts,” for tomorrow, you may be gone. On Ash Wednesday we remember that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.

image source: University of Dayton
Continue reading “Re-learning mortality as gift”

Harry Potter and the Christ-Child

As Christians in the West celebrate the great feast of Christmas (and our Eastern friends make their preparations), let’s take a look at some ways in which the Harry Potter books draw upon Christmas traditions – and especially that of the Christ-Child –  to shape and inform their titular character: Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived.

First we must examine young Harry’s name. While J.K. Rowling often claims she chose the name simply because she liked it, Harry is a nickname for Henry, which means “estate ruler,” and fittingly holds royal, even divine associations (there’s a reason Princess Diana and Prince Charles chose the name Henry for their son (aka Prince Harry), as opposed to, you know, Neville).

Continue reading “Harry Potter and the Christ-Child”