My Daughter Might Have Stepped On A Dead Body
How the HGS tour in Ireland is going, and the food I'm now addicted to
A Strange Kind of Place
Weekend hike through Connemara National Park, across the bog and up the mountain. The mountain looms mighty—an enormous skull of marble (green rock, even, under all that grass), but it’s the bog that captures my imagination.
This attention-grabbing is no small feat, as this particular terrain is, on the surface, rather unremarkable. Mostly flat, relatively uniform, entirely treeless. It should be boring, really. So why is it the opposite? For one, it’s difficult to categorize. Grassy, but like no grassland I’ve ever traversed. Muddy, but not simply some expanse of brown mud. Not brown at all, in fact—instead, the mud, when it makes itself known between tufts of bright green peat moss, is black.
This unexpected tint makes for both a high-contrast visual and an almost sinister sense of mystery. Small ebony puddles lie here, there, and everywhere—their opacity concealing what looks like 2 or 3 inches of depth, though it’s likely a good deal more. (Just last night, my teenage daughter accidentally stepped into a bog puddle and plunged into knee-deep liquid. She had to shout for me to pull her out.) Such puddles are hints that there is more here than meets the eye: the bog itself may reach as much as 24 feet into the earth.
Adding a bit more intrigue, an Irish bog is full of carnivorous plants. “Sundew,” the most common of these is called—an admittedly cheery name for meat-eating vegetation, though its Irish appellation, Drúchtín Móna (“peat slug”), is a bit more down-tempo. Scores of red tentacles bedazzle its spoon-shaped leaves, each sensitive to touch and faithful to secrete a sweet, sticky substance that lures and then traps flying insects.
Historically, though, it’s not just the death of insects that’s been associated with bogs.
For centuries, the Irish traveled the inky bogs of their homeland with more than a modicum of fear. Beasts and humans alike could (and did) become enmired in their slurping grasp; and, recognizing their tomblike potential, murdered bodies would be cast into the bogs to be enveloped and concealed from those who might call for an avenging of the slain. What must have come as an unanticipated phenomenon, however, was the ability of the bog not just to entomb a corpse, but to embalm it. The acute lack of water inflow and outflow chokes out all but the scarcest levels of oxygen. Low oxygen plus cold temperatures means very little decomposition, which in turn means that a body buried in a bog is sentenced to rotting in slow motion. Stories are still told about the Menybradden Woman—a female in her late 20s or early 30s who was found dead in Mennybradden Bog in 1978. Farmers discovered her wrapped in a woolen cloak—her eyes, lips, and nose lost to time, but her thick, curly hair still present, along with the skin of her forehead and cheeks. No one knows how she died, but she had been buried there, flesh intact, for more than 400 years.
Many of these so-called ‘bog bodies’ have been found over the years—usually by someone gathering peat to survive. That’s the other side to this disquieting landscape: the low oxygen levels mean that plant matter within the soil remains present long after it should have decomposed, making the soil itself dense with the fibrous tendrils of peat moss, heather, and sundew long past. This super-rich substrate can be cut in slabs from the bog, dried, and then used as fuel for hearth fires.
During our first stay in Ireland, our host provided fuel for the fireplace in our little rented home. Expecting to see a stack of cut logs, I instead found a pile of cut and dried turf. Skeptical at first, I was amazed to discover that these black dirt ‘logs’ burned just as well as wood. Generations ago, this substitute must have felt like a godsend to the people of the increasingly deforested British Isles. I’ll be honest, though: as you warm your hands by the blaze, as you consider all that mystery that’s been dug up to fuel this fire of yours, your thoughts inevitably wander to an unsettling question: Is what you’re burning…actually…a who?
When I travel in Ireland now and see smoke curling from a chimney, I might think of the Mennybradden Woman. And I might just hold my breath ‘til I’m past.
Ireland Tour - Holy Ghost Stories
I’ve been here in Ireland for the past few weeks, bringing Holy Ghost Stories Live to churches in both the North and the South. Adam Montgomery, a musician friend of mine from Derry, had the idea months ago to team up for a small tour where we’d find a way to weave my telling of Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones with several songs that he’d written—many of which were inspired by that amazing text.
The result has been really special.
As of this weekend, we’ll have done shows* in Limerick, Galway, Coleraine, Banbridge, and Derry. Because of how this tour arose, these audiences haven’t been familiar with Holy Ghost Stories before they show up—in fact, after each event I’ve consistently heard some version of “I really had no idea what to expect, but…” I’ve loved surprising folks with just how delightful and powerful it can be to sit inside a story like this. Adam’s songs have been the perfect accompaniment, the other musicians who’ve devoted themselves to this have been wonderful, and during each set we’ve incorporated a deeply moving time of prayer authored and led by my wife and constant collaborator, Jennifer.
*One note: these shows have been a mission trip of sorts—I knew when I came that any compensation would be far below the cost of the trip itself. But when you feel like God has something for you, you don’t pass on it. Positively mad, right? I mention the financial aspect simply to say this: if you’re a patron of Holy Ghost Stories, whether through Patreon or a one-time contribution to the creation of Season 4, you’ve been a sponsor of this tour. I want you to know that your support of HGS doesn’t just enable the production of the podcast, it enables all sorts of adjacent work that blesses people with the magic of story and worship. It’s because of people like you that I can do things like this. So thank you. Truly.
Between shows we’ve been living in Derry, working and homeschooling as usual. We’ve also, of course, been making sure to avail ourselves of the chance to hike in places like this:
It’s been a great few weeks.
Telling the Story of The Exodus
Last week, I released a bonus episode in the HGS feed: a conversation between myself and HGS Season 4 composer Kendall Ramseur. In it, we dive into the first couple of episodes of The Exodus and talk, among other things, about the incredible score Kendall has been creating for this story. My favorite part is when he gets out his keyboard and walks us through several of the leitmotifs he’s composed—musical themes attached to each character. What he reveals about Moses’ theme at 17:02 gave me goosebumps. So much incredible thought and care has gone into this season, and I’m deeply grateful to all of you who have given so far to enable this telling of the Exodus story. I hope you feel your support has been well-stewarded.
Here’s that episode if you didn’t catch it:
What stuck out to you in this conversation? Reply to this email and let me know—I’d love to hear your impressions. (Oh—and if you have any questions you’d like us to answer in the next installment of this behind-the-scenes series, let me know that as well.)
Not Long Now…
Speaking of Season 4, you’ll be pleased to know that we’re VERY close to the release of Episode 6. Kendall, Joël, and I have been hard at work on the second part of the season, and—Lord willing—everything resumes in less than one week: Monday April 24. 🎉 If you’re excited about that, let me know—it’ll give me the energy I need to push through the next several days. :)
Prayers, Please
Hazefire Studios (the nonprofit home of Holy Ghost Stories) is in the middle of a significant grant application that, if successful, would be a huge blessing in funding the rest of Season 4’s production. If you’d be willing to take a moment and pray for a positive outcome, I’d be so grateful. This new life of “if people don’t contribute, you may not get paid” is an exciting one. It’s growing my faith while simultaneously accellerating my heartbeat at times. :)
Husband, Bloody Husband
Good news: I just published a patrons-only bonus Exodus episode for all of you fine supporters of HGS on Patreon. It fills in the gap between Episodes 2 & 3 in Season, telling the story contained in the absolutely bizzare paragraph that is Exodus 4:18-24. Yahweh almost kills Moses, Zipporah pulls a knife on her grown son’s penis, and someone throws a foreskin at someone else. It’s…a whole thing.
Happy listening, patrons!
Oh—and just a heads up: I could, of course, be wrong, but I totally disagree with this take from the Gospel Coalition. :)
(If you’re not a patron yet, you’ve probably been meaning to jump in, right? Now’s a great time—sign up today and you’ll get to enjoy this episode and several other patrons-only episodes waiting for you. You’ll also find discussion guides, full scripts, remixed scenes—all kinds of good stuff. Patronage is the only way HGS continues to exist, so on behalf of the tens of thousands who listen around the world, thank you.)
Towering Inferno
Anthony Russo over at The Bible Is Funny sent me this today—have you seen it? An ultra-realistic AI-generated video depiction of the Exodus pillar of fire.
Wow, wow, wow. You’ve got to see the video—watch it here.
Video of Last Monday’s BTS Episode
One more goody if you’re a patron—I’ve just dropped this video over on Patreon for you. Here’s the chapter list—I think the section around 18:02 might be my favorite, but I also love what Kendall says about the Moses theme at about 15:16.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:49 How It Began
06:04 The Major Theme of Exodus
06:59 How Does Kendall Score an Episode?
11:53 Leitmotif Case Study: Moses
15:16 Moses' Birth, Moses' Theme
23:00 Shiphrah & Puah, The Midwives' Theme
28:52 The Death of the Firstborn Theme
34:22 Pharaoh's Theme
38:57 The Burning Bush - Yahweh's Voice, Yahweh's Themes
59:29 Staff-Become-Serpent
1:07:12 Why We Love Doing This
4 Cool Things
Your New Favorite Card Game - Very excited to announce that friend of Holy Ghost Stories and generally delightful human being—Anthony Russo of The Bible is Funny—has just released a card game. Since Bible verses are always being taken out of context, why not make a game of it? Can’t wait to get my hands on this.
Who Owns the Swans in Britain? - You’ve asked the question, I know. Here’s the answer.
Paul McCartney Digs This Song - I was a fan of McCartney 3, 2, 1…but I really love this.
Pot Noodle Thai Green Curry - I’ve eaten one of these for lunch almost every day during these few weeks in Ireland. Am I proud? No. Am I ashamed? Also no.
That’s the latest! Hope you’re blessed by the “Telling the Story of The Exodus” episode. And be sure to share your thoughts/etc—I always love hearing from you.
Gratefully,
Justin