Found this Bible trivia quiz on friendaeditimi's LJ. Never one to pass up any online quiz, I took it and, to my surprise, scored 100%. Granted, many of the questions were pretty easy, but there were some obscure, Old Testament questions, and I even got those.

Which has got me thinking about my spiritual grounding. I grew up as a happily and unscarred Episcopalian. I liked church, and found the Bible interesting reading. I went through several devout stages and in the process read the entire Bible, except for Revelations, which I have yet to find the fortitude to get through. Considering the state of public Christianity these days, I guess I should, just to stay informed on what the whackos are up to.

Anyhow, although I've fallen away from the comfortable belief of my earlier days, done in by a number of factors, not the least of which my own skepticism and pragmatism, I still value the lessons and wisdom I still carry from that tradition. I still draw from it, too. I learned first hand the power of ritual, and the pull of a belief in something beyond the mundane world, not to mention what I consider a very positive sense of social responsibility. I am deeply saddened by how some people twist that wisdom into hatred and violence.

Synchronicity in action. While I was writing the above, this daily reading from Beliefnet came in on my email:

"According to Buddhist psychology, most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for, attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities. The pursuit of the objects of our desire and attachment involves the use of aggression and competitiveness…These mental processes easily translate into actions, breeding belligerence. Such processes have been going on in the human mind since time immemorial, but their execution has become more effective under modern conditions. What can we do to control and regulate these “poisons”—delusion, greed and aggression? For it is these poisons that are behind almost every trouble in the world.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama"

Saves me a lot of typing. ;-)

Anyway, the history, mysticism, and ritual of the Bible gave me a great grounding for creating fantasy worlds and culture. It's only one of many sources I draw from, but it's a valuable one. Not that I'm writing "Christian SF". Far from it. But I did pick up some valuable tropes. And apparently, according to that quiz, I've retained more than I thought.

Peace be with you, and Namaste.