Negotiating dystopia with love

I so want to start the week with encouraging words, but as I sat in my quiet living room searching for those words, my mind was distracted by the weekend news of riots in France by “demonstrators” who seem to share ideology in common with the organizations that back the mostly peaceful gatherings that were occurring on this side of the Atlantic. It feels inevitable to me that we are creeping back towards the sort of dystopia that hung over the US of A from 2021 to 2024.

Lest you jump to conclusions, let me hasten to add that I am no big fan of the incumbent administration these days, either. The lesser of two evils is still evil.

But I find myself contemplating how I might cope with what seems to be an inevitable descent into even more unpleasant times, given my preference for liberty and peace.

“Love God and love your neighbor” is the law I live. How do I interact with those who mean to tear down the country and rebuild it in their image? “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And what about those who invade and attempt to close churches and synagogues, or censor dissent, as they have done before? “Love your enemies.”

This is why the most important commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” — because there are some people who are hard to love without divine intervention, people who are filled with hate and have no objection to violence. We cannot defeat them by hating them and countering their violence with violence, however; we must meet them with peace and with love. Doing so is the equivalent of heaping burning coals on their heads, and they quite possibly will lash out with intensified violence, like a child in mid-tantrum. We restrain the child to prevent further damage, but we act in love.

That’s easy for me to say; I am miles from the epicenter. Lord grant me the strength and the patience to meet the haters with love, should I ever encounter them.

The AWLR books

I was so absorbed in this week’s unplanned trilogy (“To be heard,” “To hear,” and “Peace over a coffee cup”) that I forgot I have designated Thursday for promoting my modest selection of books. My hope is to convince you to purchase one or more of my little offerings for the book lover in your family at Christmastime. They make quite nice gifts if I say so myself.

I have published five books in the last three years. I was talking with my daughter-in-law, Wife of Son of Red, this week, and we agreed we tend to measure time as Before We Lost Red and After We Lost Red. These are the five books I’ve published since Carol Jean passed, and while I can’t put my finger on the difference, I am more inclined to emphasize/promote/recommend these five works first among my 17 literary efforts, although I certainly am proud to point you towards all of them.

I’m listing the ISBNs with each because I am a horrendous marketer, and so it’s unlikely you’ll find these tomes at your local bookstore — but I’m confident they will gladly order them for you.

Ebenezer: A sequel of sorts to “A Christmas Carol” (979-8-9863331-6-8) (or hardcover 979-8-9863331-5-1) is a novelette about an encounter between a morose young man and Mr. Scrooge, envisioning how that fine gentleman may have spent his time after pledging to hold Christmas in his heart always.

Dejah & Summer in the Time of Magic (979-8-9863331-8-2) tells the story of when my two golden retrievers began to talk shortly before Halloween and how we fought off an attack by the Evil One, with the help of a motley crew of magical beings.

The Man Who Crossed Whimsy Avenue (978-0-9910107-0-7) is a collection of 96 very short stories (“flash fiction”) in various genres.

And then there are the last two collections of posts from this blog.

A Declaration of Peace (979-8-9863331-9-9) collects my thoughts in the wake of Red’s passing, generally focused on the value of human life after the worst loss of my experience. Originally published as War IS the Crime, I repackaged it to better emphasize the underlying theme, which is, of course, “Love God and love your neighbor.”

See the World! (978-0-9910107-1-4) contains 70 reflections about staying aware in the moment as we walk through this most amazing life, and about what we see when we look up from our screens and embrace the world around us.

I still aim to release my next collection, titled What I Came to Say, in time for Christmas 2026, in case your book lover wants to find the very latest Bluhm tome under the tree. Of course, they can always find the very latest right here, and for free, but we all know there’s something extra special about holding the words in your hands.

Allen the Alien, Chapter 11

Allen walked into Fearless Leader’s chambers and saw the great one with a familiar shaggy blue figure.

“Barada, old friend!” he cried. “What are you doing here?”

“Ask the boss,” said his old friend.

Fearless Leader cleared his throat. “I have come to a decision.’

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” said Allen.

“Don’t be silly, I have not decided to destroy your silly Earth,” said Fearless Leader. “But I have been doing additional research, and I conclude that we must keep an eye on this violent world.”

“That is apparently where I come in,” Barada said. “I have a very particular set of skills that may come in handy.”

“You are a great warrior,” Allen said. “We’re not going to war with Earth, are we?”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Fearless Leader said with a mirthless smile on his face. “Let me tell you about my research. Seventy-five years ago, another civilization sent an emissary to Earth in hopes of forming a peaceful alliance. He was shot.”

“Good heavens,” Allen said.

“Fortunately, they had the technology to save him, but he left behind a sentry, named Klaatu, to monitor the world and keep the peace.”

Allen knew the story from his training as the emissary to Earth, and he knew the sentry was named Gort and the other civilization’s emissary was the one named Klaatu, but Allen also knew better than to contradict Fearless Leader.

“It’s my understanding that the sentry is still here, patrolling the Earth,” Allen said.

“Yes, but it can only do so much, and so occasionally conflicts continue to flair up around the planet,” Fearless Leader said. “I have asked Barada to stay here on Earth, and I have summoned Nickola, another one of our mightiest warriors, to serve as his assistant.”

“So, three sentries to monitor Earth — Klaatu, Barada, and Nick, too?” Allen said.

“Yes, and if they threaten to extend their violence beyond this planet, this Earth of theirs will be reduced to a burned-out cinder,” said the grim-faced Leader.

“That’s the gist of it,” Barada said.

“Are you sure the situation requires such an extreme approach?” Allen said. Barada gasped.

“I am sure,” Fearless Leader said evenly. “Am I to understand you are questioning my judgment?”

“No, no, not at all,” said Allen. “I, um, simply wanted to be clear.”

“It is my understanding that some sort of celebration is planned in the near future — something called a Halloween party.”

“That’s correct.”

“You will bring Barada to this party and explain the situation to their emissary, this Ellie,” said Fearless Leader. “Then we can begin preparations to head home.”

“As you wish.”

Fearless Leader left the chamber without another word. Allen exhaled and wondered how long he had been holding his breath.