Michael D. O'Brien, you're freaking me out.

Winter is a good time for reading Michael D. O'Brien. As as Russophile, he knows how to write a really long satisfying novel (The Plague Journal is the exception, but it's still a fun read). I know, I know, he dissed Harry Potter, and that's ruffled some Catholic feathers. Look, I like Harry Potter, too. I think O'Brien does have a point about the deconstruction of traditional monsters, but I'm o.k. with Potter. So if you're still smarting over the Potter thing, I think you should move on and read some of O'Brien's novels. Just my opinion, here.

Strangers and Sojourners starts off his "Children of the Last Days" series. If you're going to indulge in some apocalyptic musings, skip the Left Behind series and go straight to this one. It reminded me a lot of Crime and Punishment in its carefully considered characters and depth of narrative.

After Christmas, I felt the need for some quiet, long books, and so I reread Eclipse of the Sun. It continues the story of the Delaney family begun in the earlier books, focusing on Arrow Delaney as he navigates a world that looks like ours. Aside from its pleasant Canadian-ness, it looks a lot like the U.S.A. today (which I suppose is true in real life, also). So there are cars and suburbs, and nice families, and also creeping soft totalitarianism. A few years ago, I remember reading it and thinking, "well, I get what you're saying, but this seems a little extreme."

This time I'm saying, "Stop! You are freaking. me. out!" Is it significant that one of the final outrages mentioned in the novel is when the government forces Catholic Churches to dispense birth control? Nah, surely not.

On the other hand, Lifesite News had two related articles yesterday about events in Canada and the UK. One is about a ruling in Canada that restricts homeschooling families from teaching that homosexuality is sinful. The other is some government yahoo in the U.K. saying that the same can't be taught in Catholic schools. To which we might say, "Fantastic! Homosexuality isn't sinful! Homosexual sex, is!" But I'm getting the feeling that this is just the kind of nuanced thinking that's going to be lost on these folks. And then there was this little treatise in a major bioethical journal, just to remind us of where the abortion argument ultimately leads.

I think it's important to remember a couple of things, right now. One is that our Church is The Church--the gates of hell will not prevail against Her. Two is that now would be a really good time to attach ourselves more firmly to Her, and whoa! It's Lent! How helpful is that? Perfect timing.