chi·me·ra

1 a capitalized : a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail b : an imaginary monster compounded of incongruous parts
2 : an illusion or fabrication of the mind; especially : an unrealizable dream

"a fancy, a chimera in my brain, troubles me in my prayer" -- John Donne

Fantasy seems to be a theme lately - I have had a number of conversations on the subject of recent, one of them being a discussion/debate on the validity or purpose of fantasy in the entertainment world (ie: The Lord of the Rings). I'm not going to go deep into that, but I will say that I have yet to comprehend what is gained from watching or reading stories such as these other than to be moved/inspired/whatever you want to call it by the "save the entire universe" plots filled with magic and inhuman creatures and usually lots and lots of war. I also have yet to understand why certain fantasy stories receive so much acclaim when they are really just a version of some hapless, simple hero going on a dangerous adventure and bringing peace to the world somehow. So they made all the evil people look a little different and created entirely new races of disgusting creatures...it's still the same story (to me).

Am I alone in this? Am I missing something? Do these stories really give people hope that they could someday be a hapless simple hero and restore the earth to peace and harmony? If not, what on EARTH is the draw? (And why do people want to spend millions and millions of dollars to keep telling this story every 20 years?)

Okay, I really didn't mean to keep talking about that...again. On a somewhat related note, I love living in Seattle. Every once in a while I look around and I suddenly remember, I live here! I may only be paying cheap rent for a makeshift bedroom in a little old, dingy house, but there is something about living in a city that just gives off more of a feeling of shared space. It's so great to walk past the cherry and the magnolia trees that are blossoming over the sidewalks and feel like they are almost as much mine - just because I get to walk under them everyday - as they are the person's who owns the yard they are on. It kind of makes feeling poor feel not so poor...

Another reminder of how not poor I am is the very present very poor in the city. I am daily face-to-face with those whom Jesus called me to love - and I have to confess that I don't know how to do it well yet. But I love that they are there everyday - reminding me that I need to learn.

I probably shouldn't encourage people to move to Seattle as much as I do, given the already ridiculous housing market and obvious traffic problems, but I just can't help it. This is a great place. I get this feeling about once a week that I am living what I thought was an unrealizable dream - and it would get even better if more of my favorite people were to join me...

Just throwing that out there.