Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

For those whose major home-maintenance and auto-repair tools are a Swiss Army Knife (left-handed, in my case) and a roll of traditional silver-gray duct tape (colored duct tape might constitute a minor heresy -- I haven't heard the final word on that, yet), and who consider MacGyver to be their patron saint (the saint of narrow escapes and making mile-high lemon meringue pie when life sticks you with a pile of lemons), a major holiday is fast approaching.

September 29, 2005 will be the 20th anniversary of the airing of the pilot episode of the 1985-1992 television show MacGyver, so I propose that it be properly celebrated as the Feast Day of Saint MacGyver. Let it be a day for celebrating the off-beat, nonconformist, tree-hugging, intellectual master of improvisation within each one of us. Anyone else interested?

And on a different-but-related topic . . .

While browsing in a Barnes & Noble with missmurchison and M:TNG2 a few weeks ago, I finally picked up a copy of a rather surprising little book by Christopher Stasheff: Saint Vidicon to the Rescue.

Saint Vidicon of Cathode, of course, is the mythical patron saint of engineers, programmers, and technicians whose martyrdom story was first recounted in one of the early "Warlock in Spite of Himself" novels (I think it was The Warlock Unlocked, but I'd have to look it up to be sure -- a priest from Earth preaches on the martyrdom during a mass at a space-station chapel while awaiting passage to Gramarye). The martyrdom story is told in greater detail in short story form in the collection Mind Out of Time. And, of course, anyone familiar with Stasheff's "A Wizard in Rhyme" series (Her Majesty's Wizard, etc.) will be familiar with the Imp of the Perverse and other off-shoots of Murphy and Finagle, against whom St. Vidicon must do battle.

This novel seems to be set in a world in which St. Vidicon and his story are (for the most part) recognized as fictional, even by the scientists and engineers who invoke St. Vidicon's intervention, just in case. Meanwhile, on a different, spiritual plane, the recently martyred Father Vidicon wrestles with the forces of perversity and entropy on his way to his heavenly reward, and enlists the aid of computer trouble-shooter Tony Ricci to answer the calls for help that he himself cannot respond to while engaged in the greater battles. In return for lending his spirit to trouble-shoot for Father Vidicon (while his body remains sound asleep or seated at his terminal), Tony gets aid and advice from Vidicon to help advance his romance with the brilliant but wounded lady of his choice.

While my knowledge of the inner workings of computers and other technology is next to non-existent, I found that the "troubles" Tony and St. Vidicon were called upon to "shoot" were quite recognizable, and even helpful. Since the wish to fail and the urge to deprive oneself of the people and things one values most are, by definition, perverse, St. Vidicon's job description encompasses much that is spiritually and psychologically familiar to me. I actually found myself feeling rather encouraged and strengthened by the experience of reading this fluffy bit of science fiction fantasy. And the ecological issues addressed in the science fiction aspects of the novel were satisfying and more than a little refreshing, as well.

Furthermore, as with Stasheff's "Wizard in Rhyme" series (especially), Saint Vidicon to the Rescue deals frankly with the dilemma of those who were raised to believe that sexual union ought to be reserved for marriage, in a dominant culture that regards pre-marital sex as the preferable norm. In a non-judgmental, non-dogmatic, compassionate way, Stasheff's characters give voice to his own moral values when it comes to relations between men and women. Since there are times when I think that Lane Kim (Gilmore Girls, you know?) and I are the only non-Amish people left who embrace that aspect of our parents' teachings, I found it fascinating to watch Tony Ricci realistically (well, as realistically as one can, while having conversations with a fictional saint and going on dreamscape trouble-shooting missions to the future) wrestling with his own beliefs and the contrary expectations of society.

Though the more episodic nature of Saint Vidicon to the Rescue did not compel me to read it at one sitting -- unlike Stasheff's The Warlock's Last Ride, which I started at bedtime and finished in the wee, small hours, in spite of physical exhaustion -- I'm very glad to have read it, and may even wish to re-read it someday. It'll probably never reach the "must-have comfort-food" status of The Warlock Wandering and My Son, the Wizard on my bedroom bookshelves, but it was well worth the price of purchase and the time to read it.