T.K. Wade -- Author: April 2022

Friday, April 29, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Titus [Book Review]

"Titus" is the fifty-sixth book of the "Holy Bible," and it was again written by Paul himself. It was a 6 minute read, and it was over before I realized it was coming. His letters just keep getting shorter and shorter.

Although I did a lot of highlighting, much that is in this tiny book are repeats, and I'm always trying to give you whatever is new. Some things are stated a bit differently but are really the same. For example, Paul does say that we need to rebuke people for going in the wrong direction. That isn't like an angry or mean thing. In fact, I don't think you should do it to anyone you think might not listen.

In a later section of the book, it points out that that you should only try this a couple of times before just letting them go. Some people just won't listen and change their ways. Don't freak out about it. At the most, you can still pray, but that's it.

Paul also briefly spoke about people who claim to be Christians but don't actually do any of the works. This sort of person is heavily rebuked, and it is likely for being so lukewarm in the faith. If people don't actually do the works on top of claiming them then they can't really believe in anything they are saying.

That's it. I recommend "Titus." More to come.

This blog was written on February 28, 2022.

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Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Timothy II [Book Review]

"Timothy II" is the fifty-fifth book of the "Holy Bible." It was written by Paul. It is the second book written to Timothy which, looking ahead a bit, I'm pretty sure he calls all of his apprentices "son." But there's nothing wrong with that. Jesus did something similar in the gospels. It just confused me for a bit.

This book centers mostly around releasing a lot of the animal nature that goes with being young. We grow up selfishly and can do and say nasty things as a matter of ego and habit. But these things are kind of pointless when one becomes an adult. I see adults do this to each other all the time on the internet. It's a vicious cycle that doesn't actually get anyone anywhere. It's usually a mutual ego thing.

Imagine if everyone loved and helped one another. What would that be like? Can you even imagine it? I get that such a thing is not possible, but that doesn't mean you have to be a part of the problem. Calm yourself down and actually try to live peaceably with others, even if they upset you.

The book points out that evil people ultimately fall for their own evil and sort of just get locked into it. They create their own trap most of the time and end up spiraling in their own mire. I have also seen this, and a lot of the time there is no helping them. But you shouldn't let them get to you. Calm down. Take a deep breath. Don't throw pearls before swine, but, at the very least, try and exist peacefully with them.

The book happily mentions that Luke is hanging out with Paul. Love that. I'm glad they are such close friends. I can imagine that they spend much time together. I'm pretty sure they were also in a shipwreck together back in "Acts." I'm sure that sort of thing can make anyone close. I'm also fairly sure that Paul is writing many of these letters from a prison cell. I don't know which ones are like that or if all of them are like that, but there seems to be a lot of evidence of it scattered among them.

"Timothy II" is about a 10 minute read. I recommend it. I still got quite a bit to go. Too far to quit now.

This blog was written on February 27, 2022.

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Monday, April 25, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Timothy I [Book Review]

"Timothy I" is the fifty-forth book of the "Holy Bible." It was written by Paul himself, and here we have a unique situation, as to his letters, up to this point. He is not writing this letter to a church or collective of people; he is actually writing this to a single person, Timothy.

Now in the book, Paul refers to Timothy as his son, but it didn't actually sound like Timothy was his actual blood relation. It sounded more like a mentorship situation. That said, I'm actually not sure. I'm just saying how it sounded, as it was written.

Once again, this book goes into a lot of controversial stuff concerning women and the church. I won't go into the details, but if you want to read them, you will find them here. If you want to take the Holy Spirit seriously as part of the Trinity, as a Christian, you have to, at the very least, acknowledge his opinion, as well as the fact that this opinion is endorsed by God the Father. So I'll move on from that.

There were a few moments of interest in this 15 minute book. There was a distinction between serving Christ and serving the laws of man. He out-rightly says that the law was made for sinners. That's true. It really has very little to do with Christ or the idea of heaven. If we didn't have horrible people in the world, we wouldn't even need the law. And most of the time, the law is made to benefit horrible people anyways. Enough said there.

Paul also perfectly says that Jesus is the mediator between God the Father and man. Yep! That's the point. We're pretty much doomed from the start (see the Old Testament.) Through Jesus we actually have a chance.

I don't normally do quotes in these reviews, but I couldn't help myself on this one. Check this out: "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles [it means 'not Jewish'], believed on in the world, received up into glory." Best line in the whole dang chapter.

On a humorous note, there was a mentioning that we should avoid "old wives' fables." Is this the origin of the whole "old wives' tales" joke? Like whenever someone doesn't want to believe something someone says, they might say, "That's just an old wives' tale!" I've heard that all my life, but I never knew it originated from the Bible. That's funny.

There is more in this book. They packed a lot into such a small book, but I think I got all the good bits. "Timothy I" is really just worth a personal read, if you can spare 15 minutes. You might be surprised or even offended by what you see, but like I said... this is the Holy Spirit doing what he does best, and nobody offends people more than him. Honestly, I think the Father thinks its funny.

This blog was written on February 26, 2022.

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Friday, April 22, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Thessalonians II [Book Review]

"Thessalonians II" is the fifty-third book of the "Holy Bible," and it was clearly written by Paul. I really do love that he signs off personally on these. He often puts down that he wrote it with his own hand. I like that. I wish every author did that. It makes things so much clearer. Remember back in the Old Testament books where I struggled to figure out the authorship of half of them? Whelp! Not anymore!

"Thessalonians II" is an insanely short book. It was about a 6 minute read. There is barely anything to talk about here. Paul tends to have a fairly standardized greeting at the beginning of his letters. These are somewhat skippable. He usually gets into the meat of his letter by the second chapter. But then by the time he gets into it here, he is already wrapping things up.

The prevailing theme of this very short book is to just be an adult. Stop being lazy. Do your work quietly and be an example to other people. Additionally, he talks about the nonbelievers: that God will make them believe their own lie and ultimately be punished for this later on. God does give up on people who don't want him, it seems.

That's it! I recommend this tiny book, as always. Time to keep going.

This blog was written on February 25, 2022.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Thessalonians I [Book Review]

These books are so short!

"Thessalonians I" is the fifty-second book of the "Holy Bible." Is is a letter, written by Paul, to the church of Thessalonica.

So a lot of these letters from Paul tend to say roughly the same things, but there is usually one thing that separates them from the others. This one in particular was very optimistic, and I do like it when they are. Paul sounds like he has it so hard in life, and he is doing everything he can to help people who want to know about Jesus.

The two main things that stood out to me in this book was the mentioning that we should quietly work towards our goals in life, but ultimately towards God. This leads as an example to others who see you. I really have tried to adopt this, I have a lot of projects in my life that I am honest about. I don't out-rightly talk about spiritual things unless people directly ask me. Although I do tend towards emotional outbursts, I have been working very hard to remove that problem from myself.

The book also goes into the second coming of Christ, talking about how absolutely loud and wonderful it will be. The language of it is really extraordinary: "...the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:..." Holy crap. When Jesus comes back, it will not be missed by anyone... even if you happen to be staring at your smartphone at the time.

As usual, "Thessalonians I" is an easy book to recommend. It's very short and impactful for what it represents. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I need to keep going.

This blog was written on February 24, 2022.

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Monday, April 18, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Colossians [Book Review]

"Colossians" is the fifty-first book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by the very hand of Paul. He says so in the letter itself. I love it when he does that. It is a letter to the church of Colosse.

This is another very short book, and it is a bit similar in theme to "Philippians." I love that it brings up the "philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men." Heck, yeah! People are so quick to just listen to other people, accepting their more comfortable words over the very clear message given by Jesus Christ. Why do they do it? Read the Old Testament. Their all stupid.

The Holy Spirit through Paul also speaks against the worship of angels. It's a very real problem. Remember that Lucifer was an angel.

The love of things of the earth is silly, because all of it will pass away. Things eternal should take our fancy, and the only way there is through Christ.

There is one prevailing theme that I do like and respect from these letters. It all has to do with living in peace with all humans. That is a very difficult thing for people to do. It is difficult for even me, but I am trying very hard to accomplish this. I have been trying to settle myself in with this ideal, but it isn't easy. Everybody is so easily hateful and at each other's throat. There's nothing gained but personal gratification in these moments. I see others do it to each other... even friends of mine. It's hard.

One small caveat: There is a personal greeting in this book from Luke. This is the same Luke that wrote the book of "Luke" as well as "Acts of the Apostles." He is referred to in "Colossians" as "the beloved physicians." This was cool.

I totally recommend "Colossians." It's a simple 12 minute read. Give it a go.

This blog was written on February 22, 2022. (Two blogs on 2s-day.)

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Friday, April 15, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Philippians [Book Review]

You all realize I am writing all these blogs in the past, right? The problem is that some of these books are very short, and they pile up. I read through them in a day or so, and then I write the review for it usually the next day. There were a lot of short ones near the end of the Old Testament that piled up and actually put my blog on a backlog. I figure that if I can get to the end of all the religious texts that I have set aside for myself, the backlog will slowly subside and I'll be back to being only a few blogs ahead. I've also considered doing three blogs a week to whittle it all down a bit faster. I might have made that decision by now, but there's no telling until I actually do make that decision. The future is a funny mystery sometimes.

"Philippians" is the fiftieth book of the "Holy Bible." It was written by Paul, who is turning out to be one of my favorite authors in the entire collection. The guy just doesn't quit. He's given himself to this purpose and not backing down even a little bit. In many ways, he is trying to be an example to the people he is preaching to, but I get the impression that a lot of people find it very hard to emulate him perfectly.

This book (being a letter intended for the church in Philippi) is mostly about leaving behind the things of the world for the things of Christ and Heaven. Most people get distracted by worldly things, thinking them important. Paul has pretty much cast aside everything of the world as literally dung. The point of the whole sermon is that all this will pass away and be made new, so why obsess over all this obsolete crap. Jesus set us a new standard which is, in all ways, better than what we presently got. Don't get distracted by all the shinies. It's all fool's gold.

That's it! It was a 13 minute book! I recommend it as much as all the other shorties. Really I do like Paul. He claims to be the least of the Apostles, but that certainly seems to make him the greatest. His writing is spot on and easy to understand. I'm glad he was chosen for this.

This blog was written on February 22, 2022. (So many twos...)

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Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ruth Plumly Thompson - Author of Oz

Ruth Plumly Thomson is the 2nd author to work on the famous Oz books started by L. Frank Baum. Her Oz books ran from 1921 to 1939, and then there were two more in 1972 and 1976. She wrote a total of twenty-one of them, the last two being much later in her life. (I haven't read those yet.) Along the way she added a lot of new characters to the universe and the world of Oz expanded quite a bit after Baum passed on. But was she actually as good as Baum, the same as him, or was she out right terrible?

It wouldn't be right to say that Ruth was terrible. There are quite a few of her books which were quite wonderful. But, sad to say, the bulk of her collection tends to be very similar to one another. The scenario runs about like this: Once the threat or problem has been established, one or more characters goes on a journey. Along the way, they run into areas of Oz nobody has ever seen before (and will never be seen again). This area has a theme to it such as "Everyone must always be hopping." In this example, the characters aren't doing what everyone in this location is doing (such as hopping all the time.) This makes the heroes illegal, and they are either imprisoned or threatened with some sort of forced transformation to make them more like the locals. This happens over and over again until they finally get to where they wanna go and then the main plot continues from there.

The above example is sadly the way most of her stories ran, and it was a pain to read for most of the time, However, towards the middle of the 1930's her books began to change format. The randomly themed locations greatly took up less of the book, if at all. The characters personal drives became paramount, and the missions they got involved with were rather engaging. I found myself genuinely interested in what was going to happen.

Towards the very end of the 30's, she falls back into her original habits, and the stories become much more formulaic. This was a big downer for me. I wasn't sure why it happened. Perhaps, it was too much for the children of the time, or the publishers pressured her to do so. Either way, I was left feeling kind of disappointed.

Another issue I took with her was how patronizing she was to children. Baum never did that. He would go out of his way to explain everything in a very straight-forward manner. Ruth would often have silly explanations or no explanation at all. It could sometimes get frustrating.

I personally think, on the whole, Baum was simply a better writer when it came to the Oz books. Ruth did do good though. There were a number of wonderful characters that came about within her canon. My favorite shall always be Sir Hokus of Pokes who very much served as the local Don Quixote of the series. Either way, I think the originals take the prize.

I read these books so you don't have to. If you want the grand Oz experience, you only need to read the ones by Baum. The other ones are out there for those of us who obsess over these sorts of things. I have no regrets. I am ready to move on to the next great author of Oz! (Although I hear he did a terrible job.)

This blog was written on February 21, 2022.

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Monday, April 11, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz [Book Review]

[This blog contains spoilers for a book nobody reads anymore.]

It's the end of another long journey.

"Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz" is the thirty-third book in the Oz book series originally created by L. Frank Baum. This book was written by Ruth Plumly Thompson and was published in 1939. This is the last Oz book Ruth would write for decades.

It's not the best Oz book, but it certainly is not the worst. The most amazing thing that came from this story is the fact that the Oz celebrities are flying around in magical airplanes created by the Wizard of Oz. Even more startling is that the Tin Woodsman makes one heck of a pilot!

The problem arises when they fly up into the heavens to a floating land called Strat. Here we meet one of two villains in the story, the Strut of the Strat. Apparently people living in the clouds are made of 100% ego, which ends up being his biggest flaw.

The second villain was actually back down in Oz, a red-bearded menace called Bustabo. He pretty much is trying to take over his own kingdom and toss all the Oz characters off of a cliff. All this is happening while Strut is Ozplaning to the Emerald City to take over that kingdom. The whole story feels like a complicated knot. It's not all bad though.

Although the Wizard does take center stage for much of it, Ozma's maid in waiting Jellia Jam picks of the role as main character for much of the story. She's put in a position of command and doesn't do that bad of a job. Still, she prefers to serve rather than rule.

So in addition to this being Ruth's last Oz book for a very long time, it was also the very Oz book that was released on same year that the famous 1939 feature film came out. Apparently the publishers pressured Ruth to add "Wizard of Oz" somewhere in the title to cross promote the movie. Frustratingly, the whole first chapter of the book was a recap of the first book entirely through forced dialog between several people. I was so happy when I got past it. It was not a fun read.

I worry that these pressures from the publisher and the introduction of the movie may have made Ruth want to quit, but I'm not actually sure why she stopped. Maybe it was just her time. It's too bad though, since I hear the guy who replaced her was pretty terrible.

All said, "Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz" is not really that bad of a book. It's fun and adventurous and has some great character moments. And by the end of it, you'll love the Tin Woodsman as an airplane pilot!

This blog was written on February 21, 2022.

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Friday, April 8, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Ephesians [Book Review]

"Ephesians" is the forty-ninth book of the "Holy Bible," and it was, once again, written by Paul. I could find no evidence of a scribe. This is another short book. They are passing by rather quickly, much like with the minor prophet books of the Old Testament. I'm having to write these blogs every couple of days now.

So what's this book all about? In truth: It's all intended to bring peace though Christ to Ephesus. This was less depressing than with the former two books. It seems that this place is doing all right, and that they seem to want to learn about Christ and live in his way. Paul is obliging them with a good amount of advice. This advice, if Biblical lore has not failed me, is direct from the Holy Spirit himself.

If taken seriously, the advice would lead to an amazingly peaceful world. It's all about calming down and straightening oneself out. It's also about living well with your fellow human beings. That said, Paul also encourages that you still focus on your own personal vocation in life. Do what you are here to do.

My only concern is that I think a lot of Christians interpret some of this with much overthinking which leads to that stifling pomp and reverence we see in churches. Much of that just turns into a form of control which was antithetical to a relationship with Christ to begin with. Once again, people tend to make good things stupid when forming up in great numbers.

I really did like reading the whole bit about the armor of God. It's a great passage that reads well to this day, but the real reason I like it is because it was such an integral part of John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress," a book that has had a surprising influence on me over the years. You actually get to see a man wear this actual armor, while, in the Bible, it's a bit more metaphorical.

There's more politically incorrect stuff in this book, but I don't really mind any of it. It all has to be acknowledge if you want to bother being a Christian... or you can just ignore it like everyone else does these days. It's a 19 minute read. No reason to skip this one over. At the very least, Paul seems to be feeling a bit better. Poor guy has been through a lot since Jesus jumped in front of him and gave him a smack.

This blog was written on February 20, 2022.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Arcane [TV Series Review]

"Arcane" is essentially a streaming TV series for adults that was based around the characters from a video game called "League of Legends." It was released in 2021, and, as of writing this, only has one season. I didn't put up a spoiler warning, because I have chosen not to spoil really anything in the show. This is more of a review of the spirit of the show than anything.

People may not understand the significance of me saying that "I don't have a problem" with a show from 2021. The thing of it is... I have a problem with almost everything that comes out these days. It's all crap. I don't like any of it. And maybe that's because I am getting old and out of touch, but I suspect the reason for this is a bit different.

I had a friend who bugged me more than usual to watch it. He doesn't usually go this far. Ironically, the moment I broke was also the moment he gave up and stopped caring. At the point I started watching the show, I had not really been watching or had been interested in watching anything modern for an entire year. Honestly, it had been mostly old episodes of "Colombo" to pass the time during dinner.

So I watched one episode of "Arcane" a week [the way shows are meant to be watched, damn it!]. I took in all the scenes, music, character interactions, and nuances. I spent some time complaining about some of those things, but honestly I'm a nitpicker like that. Half the time, I think I do that just so I can have something to talk about. But by the end of it, looking at the whole thing in one lump, I can't really criticize it at all. Not only do I not have a problem with it... it's good. It's really good.

I tried to figure out why the show was good. I always find saying something is made with love is a little bit of a cop-out when it comes to the pure nuance of explanation. There's lots of shows out there that were likely made with love, but that has nothing really to do with the content. The thing that sets this thing apart from all other shows and the reason that I "don't have a problem with it" in a year where I pretty much have a problem with everything, all has to do with the brilliant characterization and personal interactions found in the show.

These characters lives mean something. Every one of them. None of this show is fluff. It's all organic to the setting they live in, and there is not one single main character of the show that you will not, to some extent, care about. Even the villains. And if you can get your audience that invested on all sides of the equation, then you have worked magic. It's a balancing act that is not often found in the media of the last decade. To the creators of "Arcane," all I have to say is:

Bravo. You did it. Hold your head up high and be proud. You have accomplished narrative excellence in the television format in a world judged to be too obtuse to appreciate such things. I happily acknowledge your existence.

Now, having said this, I haven't really presented anything about the specifics of "Arcane's" characters, setting, and plot, and I'm not going to. I didn't want too spoil anything of the experience. I just think you should watch it. All nine episodes. I whole-heartedly recommend it. As it stands, it might just be the best thing on television right now, and it could be something as easy as a mere second season that could ruin the whole thing. What a strange world we live in.

This blog was written on February 20, 2022.

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Monday, April 4, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Galatians [Book Review]

"Galatians" is the forty-eighth book of the "Holy Bible," and it was written by Paul himself, by hand. He literally says this in the book itself. I wish every single author in the Bible did this as clearly as he did it in this book. Apparently the whole concept of a bi-line came way later. And it was a letter! Did anyone ever bother to sign letters back then? I am perhaps being a bit too critical though.

This is, as the name suggests, Paul's letter to the Galatians. It is similar to "Corinthians II" in that Paul suspects that the people are being fooled by someone or some group that is pulling them away from Christ. It was a bit unclear exactly what was the actual cause or measure of this at the beginning of the letter. Some stuff was assumed, but by the end of it, he seemed to be explaining what was going on. Let me see if I can break this down.

In the Old Testament, there was a thing called circumcision which the Jews had to do as a sign that they were the chosen people of God. This practice also became religious law. But when Jesus showed up, the whole idea of circumcision went out the window. All you have to do is believe in Christ and live by his way... and your good. For example, to love your neighbor as yourself, live in peace with all men, ect.

From what I understand, the religious authorities in Galatia were tearing down the message of Christ and trying to get the people to conform to the law. And as circumcision was a part of the law, the claim was that it was one of the many things you had to do to be saved. Paul countered this by pointing out that circumcision really means nothing anymore if you do not live in Christ. All other parts of religious law followed the same rule, of course.

Paul was depressed in this one. He saw all of his long hours trying to do his diligence to Galatia becoming meaningless as they began to fall to the persecution of the law. I have a bad feeling that these sorts of things happened to him often. I unfortunately see this sort of problem happening even to this day. Some people even make up some of these laws within the organized Christian religion itself which takes a lot of meaning out of what these books are actually trying to say. It's one of the reasons I try to go into these books with as independent view as I can.

"Galatians" is a short book. It was about a 16 minute read. No reason to skip over this one. I recommend it.

This blog was written on February 19, 2022.

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Friday, April 1, 2022

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Corinthians II [Book Review]

"Corinthians II" is the forty-seventh book of the "Holy Bible." Is was written by Paul. If there was a scribe involved, I am not aware.

This book isn't as chunky and interesting as the first book, but it was a much shorter one. Paul sounds depressed and tired in it, where he was a roaring lion in the first. Apparently everyone has been treating him like crap since he became an apostle. There was even a mentioning of him having to be let down out of a window in a basket just to escape persecution. (This was also mentioned back in "Acts.")

He seems to show a constant distrust of the Corinthians that they will ultimately be good people, but he still lays on them the truth about Christ, and that Jesus' way is better than the alternative. He also warns them that he fears deceptive people that will show up and use the Jesus story to there own ends, possibly even changing Satan to a good character in the process.

The latter fear is not unwarranted. Throughout history, many people have taken the Bible and twisted it to their own ends. The Mormons have even slightly tweaked it to form their own narrative, making certain real encounters to only be visions. But that's not what was actually written originally, so I just can't take them seriously since they were deceptive like that. (The original starters of the religion, not the people who follow it. I don't have any issues with them at all.)

Another interesting mentioning was that, as beaten up as Paul was, he seemed to be glorified in his infirmities. Christ died in weakness, but he rose from the dead in strength no greater. Paul is not so much worried about his problems, because he is fully and even painfully aware of the truth of his existence. All those things will pass away just as it did for Christ.

There isn't much more to talk about, with "Corinthians II." The bulk of it was just a reaffirmation of Christ and Paul's very real and reasonable doubt in them to hold the path. It's a depressing book. It reminded me back when I read "Malachi" with how people are strong for a bit, but ultimately become wishy-washy. Read it if you are interested in hearing what the Holy Spirit thinks about this.

This blog was written on February 17, 2022.

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