Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Lost causes, lost worlds, and lost monsters

Lost causes, lost worlds, and lost monsters

Last updated on: August 23, 2022 at 3:45 pm by Dan Peterson

Lost causes, lost worlds, and lost monsters 2022-08-23T15:45:42-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A view of Urquhart Castle, with Loch Ness in the background
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph by Lorna M. Campbell)

A few folks out there in my audience continue to be deeply interested in my personal finances and, it seems, rather disturbed by my travels. So, yet again, I’m going to endeavor to set their minds at ease, even though it’s really none of their business:

My wife and I like to travel. We love history and the humanities. And, accordingly, we’ve very deliberately configured our finances in order to be able to travel. We’ve set aside a certain amount each year to make that possible. And we tend not to spend as much money on other things as we might otherwise do. For example, we have a single car between us, and the mileage on it is very high. Likewise, we’ve never put new carpet in our home since first moving in, and we haven’t redone our kitchen or redesigned our backyard.

But very conscious frugality in certain matters isn’t the only factor that facilitates our wanderings. We’re fortunate that both of us come from reasonably affluent families. Not, as my Malevolent Stalker likes to portray me, from elite privilege and wealth, but from the securely upper middle class. (My brother and I were the first people in our family line to have graduated from college.) And the generosity of our families allowed us to leave graduate school — and to get into a house — without debt. (Fellowship money and summer employment in the family construction business also helped).

“An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745” (i.e., at the Battle of Culloden), attributed to David Morier (ca. 1705-1770)
Wikimedia Commons public domain image

But let me talk specifically about this current trip:

I am, right now, accompanying a tour group on a cruise around the United Kingdom — though it both commenced in Amsterdam and will conclude there — on behalf of Bountiful Travel (the successor company to Cruise Lady). I draw no pay for doing so and invariably spend some of my own money on these trips (e.g., tips for local guides, and the like), although Bountiful Travel does cover the cost of flights and cruise for me and my wife. My principal duty on the tour is to give two informal lectures on each of the cruise’s at-sea days. I also see it as my role to go on the land tours with our group (the cost of which Bountiful Travel covers) and to join them for dinner every evening. Why does Bountiful Travel have me come along? It’s a business decision. Clearly — whether rightly or wrongly — they calculate that my coming along enhances their bottom line by attracting customers — at least sufficiently to justify their expenditures on airfare and the cruise for me and my wife.

Bountiful Travel paid our way to Europe. We came over early, though, in order to avail ourselves of the generous offer of a friend: A native of Switzerland, he still owns the home in Matten bei Interlaken in which he grew up, and he offered us the use of it. That was something that we could scarcely pass up!

A 2007 Wikimedia Commons public domain photo of the three “Clava Cairns” by Bob Embleton. The nearest cairn has a north-east passageway designed so that the interior would be illuminated by the setting sun on the shortest day of the year. The cairn furthest away has a southwest passage. The central cairn has no passageway at all. Note, too, the orthostats or standing stones seemingly scattered around the cairns. I also noticed one that was several hundred yards distant.

Now, I suppose that this next set of questions is of some public relevance, so I want to answer them as clearly and unambiguously as I know how to do: Does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pay me for apologetics? No. Not a cent. Is it largesse from the Church that makes my travels possible? No. Not a nickel. Do donations given to the Interpreter Foundation support my travels? No. Absolutely not. I work for the Interpreter Foundation as a volunteer, as (for that matter) does my wife. In fact, my wife and I are regular donors to Interpreter.

I’m fully aware that the explanation that I’ve just given — which follows several previously-given explanations that have said essentially the same thing — won’t help my most obsessive and hostile critics. That’s sad, but it’s okay. There’s really nothing that I can do for them. They’re determined to regard everything I say as a lie and everything I do as mean-spirited and deceptive. Still, perhaps what I’ve written here will assist in calming those down who have recently expressed curiosity and concern about how I spend my money, where I get it, how much of it I may have, and how I can possibly afford to travel so often.

Today, we docked at Invergordon and, after disembarking from our ship, drove up to Inverness and the area around it. We visited Urquhart Castle and then boarded a boat to sail on Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. (I’ve cruised on Loch Ness at least twice before and, alas, I still haven’t seen the Loch Ness monster, or Nessie.) Thereafter, we visited an exhibition that is clearly designed to debunk belief in Nessie — which, in my case, didn’t take much. (We had already seen a distinct but analogous display quite a few years ago.) We had lunch at The Clansman, wandered around a bit in Inverness itself (where, in Leakey’s Bookshop — so many books, so little time! — I bought two used volumes that are relevant to the history of the Scottish branch of my family tree). Next, we visited the site of the tragic 16 April 1746 Battle of Culloden. And, finally, we spent some time at the intriguing Bronze Age cemetery called the “Clava Cairns” (which reminded me, curiously, of the considerably older pagan center at Gamla Uppsala, in Sweden).

I especially enjoyed our guide today, Doug Redwood, who holds a master’s degree in archaeology and is connected with the Centre for History at the University of the Highlands and Islands. He has done substantial fieldwork in the area of the Scottish Highlands and on the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides to the west, and he has a particular interest in the Clava Cairns. During the hour-long ride back to our ship, he and I had a long and really enjoyable conversation about archaeological and historical matters.

Posted from the North Sea

Previous Post

August 21, 2022

"Is Eyewitness Testimony Reliable?"

Next Post

August 23, 2022 "O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian tradition is associated with the seven sacraments?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Quakerism Roman Catholicism Protestantism Seventh-day Adventism