Random Thoughts

My Thursday challenge to myself is to click ‘Random Article’ in Wikipedia, and write about whatever article comes up first, and also link the topic in some way to writing.

 

Today’s article is about the ‘Eparchy of Pathanamthitta’ – can these random articles get more obscure than that?? I read on to discover this is a Roman Catholic diocese in Kerala, India, which was created by Pope Benedict two years ago.

 

Maybe that’s appropriate in a way because Pope Benedict’s resignation takes effect from today, the first time a Pope has resigned since 1415, when Pope Gregory XII resigned. The 1415 resignation was the Roman Pope’s way of ending the Schism in the church caused by the setting up of the rival Pope in Avignon. Pope Gregory didn't retire, but was appointed Bishop of Frascati. The rival Avignon Pope was deposed, but a new Pope was not actually elected until Gregory’s death in 1417.

 

Obviously this isn’t going to happen this time. The Pope is literally going to ‘retire’ and a new Pope will be chosen within the next month. I am not Catholic, but I do admire Pope Benedict for having the courage and honesty to admit he can no longer do the job because of his age and health.

 

So how do I connect all this with ‘writing’?

 

I don’t consciously bring any religion into my books, but it does creep in at times. In ‘Her Only Option’, I did mention some of the Ancient Egypt beliefs – how the artists who painted the wonderful pictures in the Pharaoh’s tombs (by candlelight or oil lamp) considered it a ‘sacred duty’ to help their ruler find his way through the underworld.

 

One of my current ‘works in progress’ takes place in a small village in the English Lake District during the Christmas period. The hero and heroine go the Christmas Eve service in the village church, but the emphasis is more on the traditional aspect of this rather than specifically ‘religious.’

 

I know some authors write ‘Christian inspirational’ novels, but apart from those, I wonder how many other writers bring some aspect of religion into their novels, apart maybe from a customary visit to church on a Sunday morning?