Folks, I don’t know if you think about the nature of deities, but I do. And I’m not sure those Ancient Greek deities are worth shrugging off.
Last night there was a terrible plane crash at a busy intersection in Philadelphia. A medical transport jet had just taken off with a crew of four and two passengers (tanks full of fuel) when it just nose-dove and exploded.
The passengers were a child who had just been released from Shriners Hospital and her mom. Thru were going home.
There’s no explaining a tragedy like this in the Judeo-Christian worldview. How could an all-loving, all-knowing deity put a child through harrowing treatment, only to have her die the moment she survived it? If you can explain it, I will listen.
But Apollo, now, Apollo’s response would be completely understood. Apollo might have considered the child marked as dead (because He caused illness), only to be thwarted by the mortal doctors (when only Apollo can heal). If one were to ask, “How can a tragedy like this happen?” there would be an answer, at least. The cure angered Apollo because it tried to usurp His power.
Maybe messy, human, complicated Gods are what this world needs.
We don’t really know how messy and complicated Queen Brigid the Bright was. She guards the home and hearth, which suggests She might not have taken kindly to disruptions in that purview. I wish right this moment that She would reach out and help my daughter The Heir, who is yet again putting in a bid on a house coveted by the many rapacious flippers out there. But I haven’t been diligent in my Brighid worship, so if She’s a messy deity, she has every reason to ignore my wishes.
Case in point? How am I celebrating Imbolc? I’m at the beach, walking the frigid shoreline. Messy messy Anne, trying (and failing) to ditch her worries at low tide.
