cuz inside you're ugly, ugly like me

I'm dropping the whole legislation issue for now. I did hear back from one senator and congressman. They didn't exactly reassure me--in fact, one defended the bill in the House, defending the right to free use. Another issue for another day, but it sounds like someone's getting his pockets lined by Google to me. And others' interpretations seem to be similar to what I've read about the bills, that there are graphs in both bills putting undue financial and judicial burden on the creator of the work to protect the work, and that database searches will constitute a fair and lawful search, limiting damages that can be collected by the creator. Thing is, that's not hugely different than it is now, but I loathe the idea of registering everything I've ever written in case someone somewhere might read it. That's just nuts and completely unmanageable. But I don't have time, and besides...

I'm immersed in religion and faith right now, not all of it my own. The book is starting to take on life, expanding into a more realistic world. I started with Wicca v. Christianity full knowing that it wouldn't be realistic to take such an approach, especially since two oposing religions that claim to be peaceful wouldn't make for much conflict. (We'll leave that debate for another day.) Faith, after all, comes in all shades of grey. So I've introduced those for whom faith does not rule the day as another antagonist, though this is very much a book in which everyone, good or bad, is the hero of their own story.

Trinidad, however, is not so grey. His entire emotional structure carefully balances on a house of cards. Castile, while healthier and more accepting, also has his own demons. Trinidad has beliefs I do not share and a lot of what Castile, the witch, says makes sense. (But not all.) I'm getting into the rhythm of thinking not about what I think, but what would he think? It's a good place to be.

I lately met a woman who bragged that her young children want to be missionaries when they grow up. Bully for them, I thought. She led a family that kept unto itself, not risking exposure to those who are not her brand of faith. (You know the type, you can spot them within seconds.) Which begged the question: What are they missing by focusing so stringently on faith? What would God give them if they but looked away from His face?

Would God truly have us focus on Him every waking moment, would He direct every action? Should witches stop every time someone cuts them off on the highway and recall the spiritual side of the cretin in the BMW just ahead? I don't know. Most of us take what we learn from our faith and integrate it, but such integration greys what God (or the Lord and Lady) instructs. We seek balance between work and fun, love and anger, creation and destruction, diplomacy and war. Such coins spin between us every day, showing us both sides: the spiritual and the earthly; and even the most stringent Christian is not one nor the other, but both.

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