The Hidden Gospel

I've been learning about Birds of Prey - Hawks, in particular.  Did you know they can be Trained in a sport called Falconry?  Somehow, Trained seems like a more Beautiful word to me than Tamed .  Train /trān/ [verb] : to Teach (a person or animal) a particular skill or type of behavior through Practice and Instruction over a period of Time. [origin] : Latin  (trahere - to pull/to draw)  Have you ever seen a Hawk catch an animal in flight? If you live in my town, there's a good chance you have. If you Pay Attention, you might see them sitting on top of street and interstate light posts watching the barren fields in early spring.  Beautiful, powerful, silent, and swift, they can soar at immense heights and in the blink of an eye dive down to effortlessly to seize their prey. As amazing as it is to experience, I can't help but feel an Ache for the small creatures trapped inside their talons.  As I learned about the sport of Falconry, one thing in particu...

I've always known I was a Bird. The way I Knew was this: One day when she was ten years old she was watching a Story with her Mother called, 'The Notebook'. I suppose she must have looked rather Heartbroken, for her Mother put her hand to her heart and cried, "Oh, why can't you Remain like this forever!" That day, I decided that I would Eventually write my own Notebook. And, that I was a Bird.   Feeling Caged by Religion most of my life, I figured I could be a Caged Songbird; perhaps a Greenfinch, Linnet Bird, Nightingale, or Blackbird . I love to sing, but I'm not especially great at it; that is, I couldn't make a career of my dream role as Maureen (' It's a Metaphor!' ) in Rent on Broadway, but I can definitely rock a 3-chord Beatles Song . I've never liked looking at Birds in Cages much, especially in pet stores. Not only are they not Free , but they are being kept there until they are Sold, and then go back into a Cage; usually thi...

Three weeks ago I submitted an essay that I had spent three weeks writing for a Grad School application for Teaching. Everything was in order except my Academic Resume. That would be the easy part, I figured. It's just a list of Facts.  I hopped on Canva (as Millennials do) and set to work creating a Beautiful piece of Art. But I never finished it (can any Artists relate?) To make matters worse, I looked up examples of Grad School Academic Resumes ( after spending hours formatting my Artsy resume) and, Comparing, realized I was miles in the wrong direction. They were all so...Wordy. And all of the examples only had two colors: Black & White.  Consistent with my modus operandi , I waited until hours before the application deadline to press "Submit." I had Intended on reformatting my resume to be more "Academic", but I fell instead into a complete mental breakdown over a mean text message. And it wasn't even sent to me.  One of the fun things about getting...

I dare say introductions to the Authors are in order.  Please meet a third James, our Beloved Author and Creator of Peter Pan: James    Matthew   Barry , or as he is more Commonly known, J.M. Barrie. (Authors and Artists tend to leave Fingerprints of themselves in their work, I've discovered).  The name James originates from the Hebrew name Jacob , meaning Supplanter & Holder of the Heel.   Supplanter. A Beautiful word.  Supplant [s ə-'plant] : verb -  obsolete : UPROOT  : to  Eradicate [destroy completely] and supply a Substitute for : to take the place of and serve as a Substitute for, especially by reason of s uperior  excellence  or power If you caught the footnotes in the link above about the Hairy Feet, you'll have noticed the name Jacob also means...Deceiver? He lied and tricked his own brother out of his rightful Inheritance, taking advantage of his father's old age and blindness. And his mot...

And now, to Rescue Wendy!  Looking over Wendy's List, she seems a bit... Ordinary. So, naturally, I wasn't immediately drawn to her. There were much more exiting Characters to explore first. In case you've Forgotten, (Children tend to do that), let's take another look at her List: Name: Wendy Moira Angela, Darling  Mother to the Lost Boys | "Just a Mom", maybe? Or, Longing to become a Mother? Grieving a Lost Child? Trying to Rescue a Lost Child? Or, perhaps...Childless with no one to tell Stories to? Storyteller |  Life Expectancy: Normal. |  What is Normal?  Is that another grey hair? My Arthritis is flaring up again.  What will the test results say?  Tick-tock-tick-tock.  I think we can all find a little Wendy in each of us. Wendy always knew she would Eventually Grow Up. The way she she knew was this:  One day when she was two years old she was playing in a Garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her Mother. I sup...

Lean in close and I'll tell you a Secret.  My Favorite Character in J.M. Barrie's Beloved Peter Pan is that Spirited little Fairy, TinkerBell. Is she a Good Guy or a Bad Guy? She's quite Dramatic; her Record isn't great, as we've seen. Her Resentment and Impulsivity get the best of her sometimes - it's a Poisonous combination.  However, her Love & Impulsivity save our Classic Hero, Peter, when she Sacrifices herself.     Don't take my word for it. Read it for yourself:  I don't know whether the idea came suddenly to Tink, or whether she had planned it on the way, but she at once popped out of the hat and began to lure Wendy to her destruction. Tink was not all Bad; or, rather, she was all Bad just now, but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all Good. Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so Small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to Change, only it must be a Complete Change...

If you've made it straight on 'till morning, welcome to Neverland! First, we need to identify the Danger; you know - the Good Guys & the Bad Guys. After all, we're trying to stay Alive in this Foreign Land.  As I was thinking about Heroes and Villains, I pulled out my copy of The Action Bible: Heroes and Villains that my husband Gifted me for Christmas. (Yes, my idea of a good time is reading comic book versions of the Bible. He Knows me so well).  The book Beautifully Illustrates 75 Characters found in the Bible, from Jesus to Judas, each with their Most Embarrassing Moment and Claim to Fame. Hero or Villain? Well, I suppose that's for you to decide.   There are far too many Characters in Neverland to explore each of them with the depth they deserve, but let's take a look at a few that get the most attention in the Story: Peter Pan, Captain Hook, TinkerBell, and Wendy, Darling.  I've gone down the Reddit Rabbit Hole researching Symbolism behind these Chara...

Welcome back to The Hidden Gospel. Before we explore some of the Beautiful Symbolism in the Characters living in Neverland, we need to get there.  How?  We Fly, of course!  "I say, how do you do it?" asked John, rubbing his knee. He was quite a practical boy. "You just think Lovely and Wonderful thoughts," Peter explained, "and they lift you up in the air." He showed them again. "You're so nippy at it," John said, "couldn't you do it very slowly once?" Peter did it both slowly and quickly. "I've got it now, Wendy!" cried John, but soon he found he had not. Not one of them could fly an inch, though even Michael was in words of two syllables, and Peter did not know A from Z.  Of course Peter had been trifling with them, for no one can fly unless the Fairy Dust has been blown on him. Fortunately, as we have mentioned, one of his hands was messy with it, and he blew some on each of them, with the most superb results. I...

In the third grade, I proudly toted my custom-made plywood History Fair try-fold display, courtesy of my Loving Father, into the school cafeteria, my head held high among my classmates with their flimsy foam boards. I had spent weeks creating this piece of Art titled, "Indian Communication."*  The topic of the History Fair was "Communication Throughout History." The majority of my classmates chose one of two topics to research: the invention of the telephone or Morse Code. So basic. I, of course, had to be different. The idea came from my Mom, who knew my fascination with Native American Art as a young girl growing up in the heart of Utah.  Equipped with a hot glue gun and plenty of paint, I set to work carefully stacking and attaching flat stones to my board to visually represent trail cairns - a way that travelers would communicate to those who would come after them that they were on the right path.  Smoke signals were crafted with cotton balls, naturally; but the...