Happy Father’s Day
Being Father’s Day it seems only appropriate that I dedicate today’s blog entry to my father Norbert Weidhuner, for if not for him the world of Mystical Force wouldn’t exist. My father wasn’t a professional writer. I remember he once told me that when he was in university he had to write an essay on “the sex life of two ping-pong balls” (which according to him, he got an F on). But while he may not have been great at writing he was an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy. My father has a huge array of sci-fi and fantasy novels from various authors: Issac Asimov, Theodore Sturgeon and many more whom I can’t remember at the moment. Growing up he also read a lot of comic books. Spider-man, Batman, The Phantom and many more. He was also a fan of various sci-fi movies/shows from Doctor Who to Star Trek to Star Wars and so on. Needless to say he passed on his love of sci-fi and fantasy to me when I was growing up.
It was this love of speculative fiction that would serve as my inspiration to become a writer. Like many children, I had many action figures that I used to play with as a child. Everything from DC and Marvel superheroes, to Star Trek, to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and even Godzilla. Growing up, I used to make up my own mini movies in my mind with those action figures and I guess I never really grew out of it. The only difference now is that I’ve replaced those action figure characters with my own characters, that and the stories and character motivations have matured over the years. Either way, had my father not shown any interest in speculative fiction, odds are I might not have shown interest in those genres myself, or at least probably wouldn’t have come up with any of my writing. One the most exciting moments in my life was when I saw my father read the first volume of Mystical Force for the first time.
In addition to my love of science fiction and fantasy, it’s thanks to my father that I’ve grown spiritually, which in turn has also influenced Mystical Force. I remember telling me how when he was a child he went to the Church of Religious Science (no relation to Scientology, just want to get that out of the way). He told me how the priest said the Bible was divided into three parts: The first part was the ‘begats’. “So and so begat so and so. Who begat so and so. Who begat so and so.” According to the priest that part was “95% accurate”. The second part was the ‘history’, the story of Moses leading the twelve tribes to wander the desert before entering the “land of milk and honey”. According to the priest, that part was “95% hogwash”. The third part is the ‘metaphysical’. According to the priest, “you are Moses. The 12 tribes represent 12 facets of your personality and before you can enter ‘the land of milk and honey’ the parts of you that think it’s a terrible place have to die off so you can be ‘reborn’.” (I apologize if what I’m saying doesn’t make sense, it’s speaking in metaphors).
In addition to this, I remember my father telling me how when he was in university, it was still a sin to eat fish on Friday, until shortly later when the church said it was no longer a sin. Finding it odd that something that was a sin was no longer a sin, caused him to read up on religion and spirituality. He told me how after reading up on various religions he came to the conclusion that Zen Buddhism was the closet thing to the actual truth. Dad always said that God was like the force from Star Wars; “an energy field created by all living beings. It surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds the [universe] together.” The only difference, according to my father was that in reality there is no “dark side”. Having read Conversations with God, I know this to be true as the book confirms that “good” and “evil”, “right” and “wrong” are human creations. Just look at the state of the world, we can’t even agree as a society what thoughts and actions are “right” and “wrong”. Not to mention the simple fact most religions ignore: Why would God give us free will if we’re supposed to blindly follow his teachings without question?
In conclusion I just wanted to take this Father’s day to thank my father for what he taught me about life and how he influenced my tastes in media and writing. Thank you dad! I love you!