Friday, December 04, 2009

Not Gone; Just Doing Other Things

No, I haven't disappeared or lost interest.  I took the whole week off for Thanksgiving, and more; and the short week that I've been back at work has been interesting, to say the least.  However, I'm still here, and there's new stuff on its way.

So, I just finished The Necessary Beggar, a novel by Susan Palwick.  Susan volunteers in chaplaincy, and sometimes writes about her experience at her blog, Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good (which is why I always have her linked to your left).  There's more to know about her, but that's just more reason to link over.

Beggar is science fiction/fantasy, but gives a very interesting take on issues of compassion, love, and faith.  From a clinical perspective, it has a powerful theme of the consequences of shame and secrets in families.  It also portrays the experiences of refugees well, and how folks from other cultures encounter one another (really analogous to the familiar "man from Mars" thought experiment).

So, take a look at Susan's blog, and look into her books.

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