Lizard Leaps

Scriptures for the season up till Easter

2012-01-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

Scriptures for 2012

up till Easter Sunday

January 22

Mark 1: 14-20

January 29

Mark 1: 21-28

Jesus silences a evil spirit

February 5

Mark 1: 29-39

February 12

Mark 1: 40-45

February 19

Transfiguration Sunday

II Kings 2: 1-13 Elisha becomes the prophet

February 26

First Sunday in Lent

Mark 1: 9-15 Temptation of Jesus

March 4

Second Sunday in Lent

Mark 8: 31-38

March 11

Third Sunday in Lent

John 2: 13-22 Jesus drives the money changers out of the temple

March 18

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Numbers 21: 4-9

John 3: 14-21

March 25

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Jeremiah 31: 31-34

John 12: 20-26

April 1

Palm/Passion Sunday

Mark 14: 1-15

HOLY WEEK

Among Us

2011-12-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

He is born…with those words a new time begins for humanity. A new understanding of God is born with the Child in the manger. God is no more removed: "out there;" but He is here, "Immanuel, God with us."

All children understand the importance of the loving touch of their parents. Studies in Russia during the last century show us that children without human touch soon wither and die. It is the same way with us in our God/human relationship. If God is simply "out there," we lose interest and feel abandoned. An impersonal God is a meaningless God.

But, when God becomes personal to us, things change. When we feel and understand the loving immediate presence of God, our own lives become more vibrant and more concerned with the world about us. Truly Christian people are involved in some way with their world. They are not simply removed from the world, but immersed in it. They are so because of the revelation of God in Christ: the child who grew into a man, suffered, died, and rose again to express to us the way in which God loves us all.

So, the Child in the manger. God's expression of His love for us. Immanuel…God is with us. There can be no more important revelation in the world than this one: "God so love the world that he sent his only begotten Son…"

Amen.

Curtis Rivers

All Saints

2011-10-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

All Saints Sunday is the first Sunday of November. This is the day when we recall the lives of those who have gone on before us and who have impacted our lives with their goodness and love. It is one of those great celebrations of The Church, and is one of the most important days of the Christian year.

Each year, as we approach this time, I think of those good people who have affected my life. I recall the death of a saintly woman in my first appointment: Mrs. Pinkie Parker. She had worked all her life in a local mill, and her hands were so gnarled with arthritis that she could hardly grasp anything. That did not deter her love for children, however, and she expressed it in a most sacrificial way.

Every infant who arrived in the Almon community would receive a gift from Mrs. Parker: a set of hand-crocheted booties. She labored endlessly to create one such pair of shoes because of her affliction, yet she was never deterred in making those wonderful gifts for little children.

I sometimes wonder how many households in that community hold a simple pair of handmade shoes for an infant? I'd be willing to say there are many packed away or displayed as gifts of sacrifice and love.

The gifts of the saints of The Church are often small like Mrs. Pinkie Parker's. Tiny gifts of words or deeds which touch untold lives with a touch of love which springs from the heart of God. They are gifts of great importance, for they remind us of lives so touched by God's love that they continue to reach out across years of time: long after the giver has died.

Every year at All Saints, I remember Pinkie Parker. I recall those tiny gifts of love and labor which were, to me and to many of that community, an expression of a greater love that filled the heart of a simple woman from Georgia.

Saints of The Church. They walk among us…simple people so seemingly insignificant on the scale of world events that it is easy to miss them. Their impact, however, is often life-changing, and their love leads people toward God by simple inspiration.

Curtis Rivers

10/30.11

Loving...

2011-10-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday's scripture is about the Pharisees' asking Jesus about which is the greatest commandment. He replies with the Shema: "Hear O Israel, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, (He adds this one…with all your mind), and with all your strength." Jesus then says: "This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it; "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

In our world of so much anger and hatred it is hard to see this last commandment being lived out in our society. A current conservative infatuation with the writings of Ayn Rand and her atheistic philosophy of capitalism which she called Objectivism, makes it hard to get people to hear about loving neighbor amid the cries of "What's mine is mine." So much current conservative opinion calls for the divorcement of politics from faith. I find it disheartening.

One major political candidate has called for the building of a deadly fence on the border to kill those who try to pass. His call reflects the even-harsher cries of white supremacist groups, euro-centrics, and Neo Nazis who are calling for the deaths of those who try to enter our nation illegally. Such cruelty is so normative among some groups that it has become a pervasive major then in our national dialogue.

And, there is the gun lobby who think that self-defense is a primary right and discipline we all should practice. At the heart of their call is a distinct divide from the ethics taught by Christ.

Indeed, a call for fairness in demonstrations on Wall Street are met with cries of selfishness from many. Many do not see the role of government as a caring institution, but leave that to individuals who may be so called. Despite the fact that this would lead to massive hardship and the eventual death of people unable to care for themselves, there are many who believe that we are simply individuals, not a community.

All these things are disheartening to those of us who believe in truly loving our neighbor as the goal to which we are all called. So we stand and plead for others to come to the stance to which Christ calls us all: the Law of Love.

Curtis Rivers

10/16/11

Ramblings from The Fall...

2011-10-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

I wonder what’s so wrong

With the notion

Of caring for each other?

Our politicians fight

Endlessly about this...

Which you would think

Is such a simple thing

Of mutual love and responsibility.

But we disagree;

Whether one deserves love,

Another deserves care,

Or another’s too lazy,

Or too different in color,

Or language,

Or custom.

So the wealthy ride by

In Maybach limousines

Or Rolls Royces

Or only in the grandeur

Of their own minds,

While the poor

Long for bread,

For clothes,

For a place to lie down

Where it’s warm...

We get lost

In getting and spending...

And making it

To the top.

Perhaps it might help

If we remembered

That God

Lives at the bottom, too.

10/7/11 CR

What if we were a Christian nation?

2011-09-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

What would the US look like if it were a Christian nation?

1. Nobody would go hungry.

2. Medical care would be available for all.

3. No person would go without shelter.

4. Sharing rather than "HE WHO DIES WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS," would be the norm.

5. Hate would die, and love would live.

6. Racism would cease to exist.

7. Everybody would be "somebody."

8. Politicians would quit fighting over ideology and start working on the needs of people.

9. Everybody would be welcome at the table…all colors, undocumented immigrants, the poor, the sick…Nobody would be pushed aside.

10. Moral courage would be the norm, not the exception.

11. No child would truly ever be "left behind."

12. The airways would be filled with love and laughter rather than anger and hate.

13. "Talking heads" who spew hatred would lose their audience.

14. There would be no "least" among us, for we all would be valued.

15. ...

The list goes on.

Would you like to add to it?

In Christ,

Curtis

Tired of this loneliness

2011-08-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a little of my poetry with you. This poem was written late one evening while sitting at the table in our dining area.

Tired of the loneliness

That I've always known,

Tired of the emptiness

That makes my heart groan.

Tired of the longing

For someone to care,

O Lord, if you're listening,

Please, hear my prayer.

O Lord, fill my emptiness,

Fill my despair,

Fill up this heart of mine,

This is my prayer.

Shine your light upon me

Help me to know

Plant yourself within my soul

And let that seed grow.

Light falls around me

So bright I can't see,

I feel you, I feel you, Lord,

I feel you fill me.

Thank you dear Father,

I now know you care,

Thank you for loving me,

For hearing my prayer.

8/1/11 CR

The Rabbi in the Woods

2011-05-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'll be using this story in my sermon this week on The Early Church. The story is interesting, and I have used it once years ago.

It seems that a monastery had fallen onto hard times. No more novices came seeking admission, the industries by which the monks sustained themselves were not attracting customers...the monastery was dying.

The Abbot knew of one resource. He undertook a journey deep into the nearby woods to see an old man who was the last surviving Jew from a persecuted group. He was known simply as "The Rabbi Who Walks In The Woods."

The abbot came to the rabbi's house, and was invited in. Between them on a table sat the Bible. Both contemplated it, and the abbot, overwhelmed with sadness at the demise of his monastery, began to weep. The rabbi wept with him.

Finally, the rabbi reached across the table and touched the abbot's hand. "I have something to tell you," he said, "but you must repeat it only once...then no more."

Then the rabbi simply said, "The messiah walks among you." Then he dismissed the abbot.

The abbot returned, gathered the monks together and repeated the statement with the warning that the statement was never to be spoken again.

From that day, the monastery changed. Monks began to ask themselves, "Who among us can it be?" And, they began to act differently toward one another.

As the monks changed toward one another, visitors noticed something new about the monastery...something appealing. The atmosphere of love there became palpable. People wanted to be a part of it.

Today, you can go to that monastery and find a thriving community which attracts people from all the world. The sense of love is such that you feel its touch the moment you enter that place. The Rabbi Who Walks In The Wood is long gone, only a small sign denotes the place where his hut once stood. The abbot has been succeeded by new generations of leaders. The result of their conversation, however, is alive with the vibrancy that only love can bring.

Let him who has ears hear.

Curtis Rivers

5/12/11

Midnight musings

2011-04-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

Midnight ramblings...

A tune plays soft inside my mind,

About a man who's lost just about everything,

And doesn't know where to turn.

He feels like he's a blind man

Wandering down a strange road,

And somebody's taken his cane,

So he shuffles along so scared.

We all feel like blind men

At some time in our lives...

Just like we've lost everything

And lost our way as well...

And we wonder about our purpose

About where the next step's going,

We forget about the man

Walking silent by our side.

But I take comfort just in knowing

That there's one who walks beside me

Along the dusty roads of life,

There to catch me when I fall.

Always there to pick me up

When I'm too tired to stand,

Always there to love me

When there's nothing left to love.

4/2/11 CR

Musing on Directions I am taking

2011-01-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

Most of you know that I love to read. At present, I am beginning to renew my acquaintance with Eric Hoffer, the American blue-collar philosopher who wrote a number of books on change, society, and extremism. Hoffer was an unusual man, spending much of his life on the road, sometimes as a hobo.

Born in New York in 1902, Hoffer left the city upon the death of his father, a cabinetmaker. He moved to Los Angeles where he lived on skid row for many years while reading voraciously and occasionally writing. He decided to become a migrant worker, and during a winter, he became a gold prospector and was snowed into a cabin where he read the philosophy of Michel de Montigne and was impressed with his writings. From this experience and his migratory lifestyle, he became increasingly interested in the American underclass. Hoffer was not formally educated, but read voraciously: collecting library cards wherever he travelled. He finally settled in San Francisco in 1941, where he worked as a longshoreman when he was declared unfit for the military because of a hernia. As he had done before that time, he continued to read at the public library.

Hoffer's first book, The True Believer, is an American classic in social psychology. In it he explores his belief that fanaticism and self-righteousness are rooted in self-hatred, self-doubt, and insecurity. As we face increasing levels of fanaticism both here and abroad, I have decided to re-acquaint myself with the works of this fascinating intellectual philosopher longshoreman.

I am increasingly concerned with the growth of the gap between rich and poor in our nation, and with the increase in meanness disguising itself righteously as anti-immigrant concern. I also fear the dramatic increase in hate groups, racist organizations, and nativist and militia groups in our nation. Using the war on terror, immigration, and Barack Obama's race as goads to spur hatred, such groups today mirror some of the dynamics which led Germany into Nazism. It is a fearful time.

As a Christian minister, such things bother me deeply. I am looking for ways to better understand such issues so I can be more effective in standing against them. I believe that a reacquaintance with Hoffer's works may give me useful insights into the task ahead of me.

This may give you an insight into my reading and motivation as the drama of daily life continues to unfold in America. It is my hope that Christian Americans may stand against the rise of such evils as nativism and racism, and that we may one day lead our nation and our world on the path to peace.

Curtis Rivers

1/20/11

Snow Days

2011-01-11T22:42:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are, caught on top of our mountain for the third time this season by snow. I took much of the afternoon today with the tractor gradually clearing the drive so we can use it. Alex and Keila then spread chemicals on the drive and it is reasonably passable.

Being caught in one place is an unusual experience these days. We're used to being able to drive anywhere at a moment's notice, fly off across the world with a little planning...we're the most moble population the world has ever known. Even those of modest means in the United States have exceptional options for mobility.

A drive across the USA today is a matter of a few days: to fly it is a matter of five or six hours in the air, along with time at airports getting ready for the flight and receiving luggage at the other end. Even then, a day's time will allow us to span the three thousand-odd miles of our nation.

A few years ago an XR-51 Blackbird flew the span of the USA in just a couple of hours, averaging over 2000 mph for the trip. Today, who knows what speeds may be attainable for the experimental planes of our military? In just a year-or-so, regular sub-orbital flights will begin for sight-seeing in space. Already, the cost is down from millions for a flight (20 million or so for a stay at the international space station) to about ten thousand dollars. Soon we will have hotels orbiting the earth. Things are changing, and the distances which once separated us are diminishing.

In all of this, there is a constant we must never forget. God!

God's love and His creativity are the root source for all our discovery, science, and our adventures which advance the human race. Perhaps the greatest thing science can help us understand is this: no matter what we discover, God has already gone ahead of us. Science, then, simply understood is something which helps us understand how great God is. He is Creator of all, and all we know and think finds its origin in His universe.

It is great to be a child of The Creator of The Universe.

Curtis Rivers

1/12/11

Time after Time, He Comes again

2010-12-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Some random thoughts for the Christmas season:

I'm writing this on a new computer. I recall our first: a Leading Edge IBM compatible that had an operating system you loaded by inserting two floppy discs into the computer each time you turned the machine on. In contrast, the one on which I'm writing has reached a modest level of Isaac Isamov's Law of Machines: "No machine shall have any moving parts." While this computer has some moving parts: the keyboard keys and the hinges on the lid (it's a laptop), it has no internal moving parts. It is completely solid state: including the hard drive. Wow! Progress is amazing.

I grew up in a house with no plumbing, a well on the back porch, and heated by two coal stoves: one in the dining room, and one in the living room. We seldom used the living room during my early childhood, keeping only the dining room and kitchen warm. At night in the winter, we simply piled on more quilts.

We had no car, grew our own vegetables and fruit, slaughtered our own meat and smoked it to preserve it. Later, we would have a chest freezer to keep vegetables and meats in a less labor-intensive fashion. We made our own laundry soap, washed weekly with two washtubs and a washpot for heating water. It was primitive by today's standards: only a single rotary phone in the dining room, and a radio in the living room on which we listened to a few favorite programs. I walked to school, rode the streetcar for longer distances, and had hundreds of surrounding acres of woods in which to play.

As I near my 68th Christmas, I can look back to that time and understand its simplicity compared to the complex world of today's children. Cell phones, television, computers...it is a time so different that it is a quantum leap from the world of just a few generations ago: much less the world of a hundred years ago.

I find it interesting that, in the midst of all this complexity, some simple things still give me pleasure: family, a good book, interesting and challenging issues from our congregation which stretch my mind daily. With all this complexity, some simple things are still satisfying.

At the heart of this season is a simple thing: the birth of a child. Despite the age in which we live, the birth of Jesus is still as riveting as it must have been 2000 years ago. All the knowledge, innovation, and invention pale when held against the birth of a tiny child two thousand years ago in a place and time so alien and simplistic that we can scarcely imagine it.

Yet, that birth has continued to touch the fabric of human hearts and human civilization through all these two thousand years. All other events of history are diminished when compared to the impact this child has had on all humankind and human history.

So, in this time of compelxity and challenge, it is appropriate for us to once again cast off the trappings of modernity, don the clothes of shepherds and wise men and angels, and make our way to a tiny town called Bethlehem. We go there in our hearts. We worship there with myriads of souls from all ages. We do so because, despite all the distance of time and place, it is in that manger that all the hopes and dreams of The Lord God lie: hopes and dreams that include me, and you, and our children's children in a time yet unimagined. This then, is the stuff of miracles: a child whose name is Jesus.

Curtis Rivers

December 6th, 2010

Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

The holidays bring lots of family, friends, gifts, meals, and...depression. There are many for whom the holidays are harbingers of remembered pain. A parent who made the holidays terrifying. A spouse whose holiday activities tore the family into pieces. Those memories can make the holidays into times of suffering and pain.

How to survive if you are one for whom the holidays bring such memories? I may have a couple of suggestions.

In The Canterbury Tales, a nun carries a banner with this emblazened on it: Amor Omnia Vincit. (Love conquers all) That is a great place to start.

If you can center yourself on the fact of God's love, you will begin to see creation in its proper order: with our loving Father God in the center. This image is how things are supposed to be in the Kingdom of God. Despite those who hurt us, the fact of God's love can be a great and a healing influence.

Second, if you can simply avoid those who hurt you or cause holiday disturbances. Despite the fact that family tradition may make your decision seem strange to others, it is not necessary to fulfill traditions which cause us to be constantly hurt. Go to some other friend's thanksgiving dinner. Just don't invite drunken old cousin Bill who ruins every gathering. In time, your family will come to understand that it is not necessary to fulfill the crazy needs of the family member whose role seems that of persecutor.

Third, fill the season with prayer. If you can center yourself in God, the season will become clearer as a season of praise and thanksgiving. This will enable you to begin to distance yourself from those who hurt.

If these things don't work, call me. We'll discuss your particular problem and see if we can come up with a good solution.

Happy Thanksgiving, and may God Bless you.

Curtis Rivers
11/23/10

2010-08-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

At the End of the Day

2010-07-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

The end of summer is quickly approaching, and school will start in just a couple of weeks. When I was a boy, we had an extra month over the kids today, with school starting the first week of September. That's no longer feasible as the U.S. drops farther-and-farther behind the rest of the industrialized world in education.

Keila went to Italy as a part of her education at Berry College. While there, she was required to observe in a number of Italian primary schools. She was inspired by what she saw, and horrified at how far our schools miss the mark.

Using modified Montessori models, Italian schoolrooms are places where busy groups of children cooperatively learn. They are busy, conversational, hands-on places. Here, steril classroom settings with neat rows of chairs greet children. They sit silently while information is imparted, and work endless worksheets of problems. If it sounds boring, it is because it is.

It is obvious that, for all our knowledge about how children learn, our modern schools mirror little of that learning in the way children are taught. Couple that with the frenzy of "testing," and you can easily understand why so many children simply opt out of the process of learning.

As a Christian, I am concerned for our children. Not only their spiritual growth, but their human growth as well. How can they impart their faith to others if they are not as well-educated as their counterparts from other nations? I wonder if it is not a part of the role of The Church to challenge the educational processes of our day, challenging educational leaders to make the process more exciting and stimulating. And, while we do that, should we not challenge ourselves to make the learning of The Gospel more exciting as well.

Well-educated children are the future of both The Church and our nation. It is proper that we become involved in their future.

Curtis Rivers
7-22-10

July Heat, Remembrances, and Regrets?

2010-07-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

I seem to have come to that point in life at which one ruminates over the past while in the midst of the simplest things.

I sat with an African-American friend on our porch the other day and a sudden image flashed into my mental view. It was the image of a document I have stored away. My dad bought a couple of shares of stock in the Westside Development Corporation...or some such innane title. It was really a racist entity developed to purchase houses in our community to keep black people from buying them during the turbulent 1960's. It happened anyway, and the community changed. I keep it as a mark of shameful remembrance of a time my dad came to regret as he accepted that we are all God's beautiful children no matter what our color.

I've spent some time looking at old family photos...well, some are actually even tintypes...my family recollection is beginning to span back nearly two centuries. I look at the faces of those gone and remember how short our lives really are. Like the psalmist says,"...what is man that thou art mindful of him?" We're sort of like Ben Franklin's ephemera. On a cosmic scale, we aren't very big, and we don't last very long.

And...I recall coming to Cartersville in 1991. I figured we'd be here four or five years and move on. It's coming up on twenty years and counting. You never know what God has in store for you.

Memories...reminisces...ruminations. Somehow they define us, but, if we honestly examine our past, it should be a basis for doing better in the future. I certainly hope mine are just that, so that I might do a better work for God in the time left me than I have done in they years past.

Curtis Rivers
7-7-20

Nimrod and Ayn Rand and other things

2010-06-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

While preparing for the sermon Sunday, June 13th, on Christian families, I decided to begin with the Tower of Babel. I traversed from there to Jesus' parable about the men who built houses on sand and on The Rock.

In studying I found out some curious things about Nimrod and Ayn Rand. In several scholarly sources, I found comparisons between the two, with several scholars expounding on the philosiphies of both. It was interesting to note that the similarities between their philosophies were extremely close. It is also interesting to note that both Nimrod and Rand held similar ideas about the primacy of The Human Spirit versus ideas about God.

While I have my questions about the comparisons made by those scholars, it is interesting to note that Nimrod's arrogant belief that he would lead humans to become "like gods," and Rand's belief that humans, not God, are the primary force in the universe are so similar. And...both easily lead humans to unhealthy patterns of living.

In today's conservatively extreme adherents, we find a great resurgance of Rand's popularity. "The Gospel of Selfishness" espoused by Rand is the meat and potatoes of Wall Street and the Corporate World. Rand's belief that extraordinary people need not be bound by conventional mores easily translates into a mantra for unbridled greed. It also easily translates into rhetorical cant which speaks of "divisions" between human classes based on innate ability and ruthless selfishness. Extremist elements within the conservative movement are using this philosophy and the fears inherent in a time of change to bring about one of the most divisive times in American history.

Nowhere do we see this more poignantly illustrated than in the rampant growth of the divide between the rich and poor and in the racial/class warfare promoted by nativists and white supremacists in today's immigration battles. These divides stand in direct juxtaposition to God's message through Jesus. Nowhere in America is this more amply illustrated than in Arizona's law against immigrants which was written by State Senator Russell Pearce, a man with proven ties to Neo Nazi groups and white power organizations.

It is important for all of us Christians to realize that the Gospel is as radical a belief for unity and the good as are the beliefs of hate and nativist groups for evil. It is important to remember that Jesus taught a radical understanding of all humans as brothers and sisters: Children of God. It is important for Christians to realize that the power of evil is evident among us, and we need to be ready to radically affirm peace and justice in the name of Christ.

In our midst we are watching a great battle. It is a battle as old as humankind itself. It is the battle between good and evil. The battle ebbs and flows, but it is never done. We are called always to be harbingers of peace and justice in the divisive tug-and-pull of this eternal battle. As Nehemiah stated in his reply to Sanballat who wanted him to come down from Jerusalem's wall he was rebuilding so Sanballat and his cronies could slay him and terrorize Nehemiah's followers: "I am doing a great work, I cannot come down."

Curtis Rivers
June 14, 2010

The Christian Family

2010-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

This summer we're focusing the first part of the season on the Christian family. This past Sunday we began that journey with the sermon which took its beginning in the Shema.

Beginning with Moses' desire to leave the Children of Israel with a new legacy in the Promised Land, we opened our study with Deuteronomy 6: 4-9 in which Moses instructs the Israelites to center their homes and their lives in their belief in God. Starting with that ancient call: "Hear O Israel, The Lord your God, the Lord is One..," we began our journey toward an understanding of the Christian Home and its difference from other homes.

We found that Moses hoped to help the Children of Israel understand who and what they were. We also found that Moses understood that, to be fully human, people have to understand who they are. The Shema starts us on that journey which finds its fullness in I Peter 2: 9-10 when Peter posits: "Once you were no people, now you are God's people."

Moses helped the Israelites answer three basic questions:
1. Who are we?
2. Where do we come from...what is our story?
3. What is the structure by which we order our lives?

Our journey will help us understand how important it is for us to have these three elements firmly answered in our lives if we are to provide a healthy Christian environment for our children. This is important! It is vital to building our homes as healthy places to live.

We then began the journey in the same way as the Israelites entered the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan. When they crossed, a leader of each tribe selected a stone from the river and, together, the twelve leaders built a stone cairn. This was for a memorial: a place where the Israelites could gather and remember their story...the story which told them who they were.

Like those Israelites, we began our journey with a memorial: The Lord's Supper. As we gathered there, we began a journey which will take us through this summer toward the goal of homes centered in Christ.

Curtis

Summer Ministries

2010-06-02T10:12:00.001-07:00

Summer is here, and our ministries for the summer are accelerating rapidly. Today we had nearly 100 at lunch where we feed children, youth, and adults. This program is a real challenge and a blessing. It is a great thing to watch little ones have a nutritious meal and know that your church is the reason they do so. It is a blessing to watch whole families sit down to eat, knowing that your church is the reason they can eat. Just as Jesus fed the multitudes, The Church today has an increasing need to "Feed the Sheep." We're doing just that.

Our kids from the After School Program will enjoy activities all summer, with programs to help them enjoy the summer, and programs to help them keep their academic edge during the vacation season. And, yes, I will be helping kids make their own cherry bombs with black power they make themselves. Living dangerously, that's part of what we do here at Douglas Street UMC.

We have a number of family events this summer, to include our first church-wide overnight camping event for families. Take a look at the summer calendar and catch the enthusiasm. Of course, no summer at Douglas Street would be complete without the annual pilgrimage to Amicolola Falls State Park. The Green Bus will be packed!

The food bank is bustling as families in need call Patricia Landinez to schedule pickups. This is a great ministry, and we're proud to expand our programs which help feed God's children.

Take a look at the church calendar, and come and join us for a great summer of exciting spiritual challenges as well as events just for family enjoyment. It's great to be The Church. That's what we do...that's who we are: The Church of Jesus Christ lived out daily in the midst of our community in Cartersville, GA.

Curtis Rivers
6/2/10

The Weeks before Jerusalem

2010-03-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

In the weeks before Jerusalem and The Cross, we follow Jesus through a challenging series of events: none more so than his encounter with the woman about to be stoned. It sets the scene for the crucifixion.

When the Pharisees bring the woman to Jesus, it is to trap him. Instead, Jesus traps the Pharisees in their own deceitfulness by asking the one of them without sin to cast the first stone. Boy, if He had asked that of many modern-day politicians, the poor woman would have disappeared in a flash beneath a mound of stones.

The Pharisees are representative of pietistic leaders throughout the ages. Their psychological dopplegangers dot the pages of history: those who know that they are the "chosen" ones of their age.

With this encounter, Jesus sets the stage for endless encounters between the faith which will bear his name and those who "know-that-they-know" through the ages. The encounter of a Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Nazism, the bold stance of an Oscar Romero against the tyranny of his own country, El Salvador, the bold stance of our own Southern Law and Poverty Center against hatred and biggotry in our own present day here in this nation,
the boldness of those four undocumented Hispanic students walking for immigration reform as they face the biggotry of the religious right. The list is endless.

Most of all, however, Jesus confronts the darkness of our own hearts. He confronts the judgement toward others who fall beneath our standards, the sly glance toward a person we feel "lesser" than ourselves, the dash to judge before we understand. We are all, at some point, the Pharisees.

So, in many ways, it is me Jesus stands before and writes in the sand. It is me he calls to cast the first stone. It is me...for I am a sinner.

Lent is the time when we are called to stand before Jesus as he writes in the sand. As I do so, I watch the words he writes. The first is a name...mine.

As I watch him write my name, the majesty of his sacrifice and the depth of his love overwhelm me. The stone falls from my hand, and I fall beside the woman on my knees. She and I are the same.

Curtis Rivers
3/18/10

A Lenten Parable

2010-03-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

I'm working on the Parable of the Prodigal Son for March 14th. I've been working on it for about a week now. Of course, the three main themes are: (1) the pentitent son, (2) the jealous older brother, and (3) the overarching them is that Helmut Thielike called "The Waiting Father." For this Sunday I've decided to center in on several themes: (1) God's ways are not ours, (2) the cycle of sin and repentance is part of every human being.

The theme of God's difference is one which is often in my mind. The Bible tells us that "My Ways are not yours." It also speaks of God as both person and Being beyond personhood. For me the most poignant example of this latter thought is found in Moses' encounter with the Burning Bush. When God speaks in response to Moses' question of His identity, God says: "I am That I am." There is a distinctive sense of God's 'Otherness' in this response.

Yet, Jesus speaks of God as 'Father.' He even calls God 'Abba,' which is like our word 'daddy.' The intimacy of this cannot be exaggerated. God is Other...but...God is also Daddy.

Jesus illustrates this concept for us in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Thielike, whom I mentioned, calls this The Parable of the Waiting Father. As a theologian, he felt that the parable reveals more of the nature of God than it did about the character of the son. I think he's right.

So, when I think of this parable I have come to realize that the central figure is not either son, but the Waiting Father...Daddy!

Illustrating the sermon this week I'll be using Casting Crowns' video of their song "The Prodigal Son." In it there is this haunting line. "Daddy, here I am again, will you take me back tonight?"

That line speaks to the Lenten process. We come to our Father in repentance. In remorse we ask, "Daddy, here I am again, will you take me back tonight?"

And the Waiting Father doesn't hesitate. His arms open...and He enfolds us.

Curtis Rivers
3/10/10

A New Year, A New Heart

2010-01-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

The Psalmist cries: "Create in me a clean heart, O God." It is the cry of milennia of humans seeking to renew their lives and their faith. It is the cry of David when he has sinned. It is the cry of the Israelite nation in the deserts of the Exodus. It is the agony of Peter when he has betrayed Jesus. It is our cry, too.

Each new year brings new hope. It calls us to the renewal of faith and the refreshing of our hopes and dreams. From the recollection of a youthful body able to run all day which calls me to lose weight and get in shape, to the heartfelt call on my life to make my last years count for more in God's service than previous decades: I feel the call to renew. I, just like you, need renewal. I need new commitment. I need my faith refreshed. I need to do more and do it better.

So, my pledge to God this year is to try and do better.

As I approach the "three score and ten" allotted to us all, I am increasingly aware of the hurts and needs of our community and our world. I am also increasingly aware of the evil which causes the half-hidden sins of racism and class, as well as the open sins of terrorism and all forms of bitter dogmatism which divide us. I am aware that our world is terribly divided by the increasing gap between poor and rich. I am aware that the earth, itself, is suffering by our lack of stewardship toward it. I am aware....

All these obstacles to healing and wholeness for us are overwhelming, when viewed in macrocosm. No person can heal all this. How can I make a difference for God in this new decade of the twenty-first century?

All I can do is approach the microcosm in which I am planted. This little place I have been given to tend is tiny, but it is what I have been given. If I am a good steward here, and if I am confident that others are tending their small microcosmic fields, then I can find the courage to tend mine faithfully.

So, my resolve this decade is simple. I will try to blossom in the soil in which I have been planted. I may not produce a great crop for God's kingdom, but each tiny blossom is vital to a waving field of flowers. My small work is what I have been given. May I find the strength to grow as God gives me guidance.

Curtis Rivers
1-14-10

Fallen

2009-11-14T20:21:00.000-08:00

I am beginning to explore using this blog for some of my poetry. I hope this little offering will find a place in your hearts.

ADVENT SONG

So long ago, or so they tell,
Before the light of Eden fell;
An angel sang a mournful song
Of worlds once strong, now fallen.

It was a song with heroes filled,
Battles fought and dark blood spilled;
But darkness won, God's ancient foe
His the victory, now worlds lie fallen.

Out of darkness, out of woe,
God's Spirit mourned the... dead below;
Heaven's Sons lie on the field
The Light with darkness shrouded: fallen.

The Universe with groaning filled,
It's pulse of life: slowing...stilled;
And waters deep where life once swam
Lie empty, dark and lifeless now: fallen.

In darkened hall where glory reigned,
A sputtering spark flared life again;
Till Evil hand it's pulsing quenched
Where Darkness rules no hope may: fallen.

And thus death soared, and Evil sang,
Its dirgeful note proud heaven's pain;
God's day is o'er, for We have won
And Darkness rules forever more: fallen.

But Darkness cannot God destroy,
No matter the power, nor what the ploy;
A Word is spoken in the night
A birthing cry, and there is Light.

11/13/09 CR

The fellowship of "Overcoming."

2009-10-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

I used this story in a sermon recently, and have had several comments. Thus, I have chosen to post it here.

Come with me to the world of my 4th year. It is sometime during 1947: you must remember that I was only four and the memory is sketchy. It was neither too hot nor too cold, so my best guess would be that it might be fall, since that would be nearning my fifth birthday, and the memory is clear, which leads me to believe I must have been nearer five years of age than four.

Mother and I leave the house through the back door, walk up the hill, past the scuppernong vine which is supported by a large pipe frame, past the barn and along the fence which keeps in our cow and pigs. We enter the woods at the end of the fence which is above one of the small fields where grandaddy usually plants corn.

Crossing the top of the next hill, we leave our property over the barbed-wire-fence and descend down the hill behind the Ashendorf's houses to the River Trolley line which borders Proctor Creek and has a stop at the bottom of the hill where the creek empties into a large rock-bordered pond. When the trolley appears, we get on. It costs a nickel to ride to Atlanta.

The trolley makes its way up Hollywood Rd. past fire station number 22 and onto Bankhead Highway. Past West Fulton High, through Grove Park, weaving its way toward Marietta Street which is approached over a bridge. On the right stands the Simmons Mattress factory. We stop to pick up someone, but I can't see whom it may be.

No one appears, but a strange wooden contraption with skate wheels at its four corners is pitched up onto the aisle. It lands near the fare box and stops there.

I remember a hand. Not a hand like mine, but a powerful man's hand. Suddenly a man appears, looking as if he is floating on the air. Still holding the rail with that huge left hand, his right hand, equally large, appears and grasps the right-side rail near the windshield. Loosening his right hand, he reaches into a pocket, takes out his fare, puts it into the box, and then comes fully into view as he reaches the top of the stairs.

He is a giant of a man from the top of his head to just below his trousers belt. Then he just stops. His trouser legs are pinned up. There is nothing there. I remember gasping as I watch him athletically lower himself onto the platform with wheels, reach up and shake hands with the motorman, and begin to propel himself down the aisle. He seems to know many of the riders and greets them by name, and with a handshake. He comes to our seat, looks over at me, lifts himself up with one hand and reaches over to tousel my hair. "Hi, red," he says with a twinkle in his eye. He goes on down the aisle, leaving my four-year-old self speechless.

"He's a man who's overcome," says my mom. I don't understand, but nod as if I do. Overcome? What does that mean?

"It means that, when he lost his legs in a railroading accident, he didn't let it stop him from living a full and productive life. He goes to work every day. Mr. Johnson, who's a supervisor at the mattress factory says he is one of the most productive workers they have. It means something bad happened to him, but he didn't let that stop him from living, working, and making a positive impact on the world."

"Unhuh," I reply: not really understanding at all.

I'm old now, and I still don't really understand that man's courage and strength. His ability to overcome is beyond my ability to really understand in any intimate fashion. He is one of those heroic figures I can only watch from a distance: admiring their courage, being astonished at their ability to get up and go when most would lie down and die. He's one of those figures beyond my ability to fully comprehend because of the absolute heroism of every one of his ordinary actions, like swinging onto a trolley full of people, rolling by their knees on a hand-made wooden platform, yet towering above them on strong legs of raw courage. He's one of those who has overcome, and he stands tall and unbowed in my four-year-old's memory viewed from the distance of years.

I saw him many times, yet I never knew him...not even his name. I don't know if he was married, if he had children, if he even had anyone at home to love him. All I know is from those brief encounters facilitated by a common mode of transportation. That's all I know.

But, there's this. He marked me. He left an indelible mark on my life...a mark by which I measure the characteristics of heroism. And, as I grow older, I understand more-and-more that heroes are not just those who do superhuman acts which bring them glory. The real heroes of life are more often those who simply make the decision to live as fully and completely as they can, despite the odds. They are single mothers who get up, dress the kids for school, drag themselves out to work, day-after-day. They are fathers who make their way to depressing and demeaning jobs without faltering or complaint to support their families. They mark their children with an understanding of sacrificial parenthood. They stand for the good in the midst of lives surrounded by darkness.

You see, this is a world of heroic beings...but they often are not those we read about nor watch on TV. They are, however, the backbone of strong families...the inspiration of children who strive and succeed in life. They are the people who overcome. Some of you who will read this are among them.

Curtis Rivers
10-14-09

Sermon Series

2009-07-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

This Sunday we'll begin a series of sermons on some special characters in the Bible. We begin with Ruth, who was one of the most important ancestors of King David. From there we'll go to David, himself. After those two Old Testament characters, we'll look at some New Testament people who present us with images of the people who shaped and formed the faith we celebrate as Christians.

All these persons we'll study have one thing in common: their hardships and brokenness. Out of their failures, difficulties, and ordeals will come something of the essence of the faith we claim. None of the characters will be people you would expect to shape any of history, but all have done so in unique and individual ways.

One of the beautiful and unusual things of our faith is that is a faith which tells the stories of people who suffered loss, endured hardships, and experienced the same kinds of dilemmas and trials we experience in our own lives. Out of the lives of cheats, liars, crazy people, prostitutes, sick and lame persons, and even murderers grow the formative stories which shape our understanding of the God whose love is so great that no barrier of life can overcome His great loving power to reshape even the most broken human beings into persons who change history through their commitment of their brokenness to God's transforming power.

When you look at the history of our faith, it is not just a history of great people, but it is often a history of ordinary and broken people who overcame through giving themselves into God's hands. That should have great meaning to all of us.

Each Sunday we come together as ordinary people in need of God's transforming power. And, as we give ourselves to His power, miracles occur: miracles of life which give us the ability to get through today, help someone in need, feed a hungry child, open a door for a lonely soul. All these little ordinary miracles which are happening in our lives are the same kinds of miracles we see in the Bible.

So, come and join us these next weeks as we take a look at some ordinary lives which transformed human history through God's grace. Amazingly, much in those lives will be found in our own. You see, we are the same as Ruth, David, Peter, Paul, Mary of Magdala, and the Woman at The Well. We are heirs of the same Grace which touched them, and through that same Grace, we can change our world as they did theirs.

Curtis Rivers
July 18, 2009

Independence Day

2009-06-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

This coming week we celebrate our Independence Day, July 4th. It is a good thing that we celebrate on this day and remember all who serve and who have served this nation's interests. Especially we remember our men and women in service during this time. The troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and other places where they stand in harm's way. Young men and women of today stand alongside those ghostly figures from Bunker and Breed's Hills, Gettysburg, the Meuse Argonne, Iwo Jima, the Chosin Reservoir, the Tet Offensive, and the streets of the Middle East conflicts of today. All of them, past and present, are equally to be honored for their service.

Those who served whom I remember will stand large in my memory this week: the man next door who serviced machine guns in WWI, the dentist who lived on the other side of me who slipped ashore Pacific islands as a pre-invasion specialist in WWII, my wife's father who served a 75mm Recoilless Rifle and was wounded in Korea, my First Sergeant, Jimmy McClure who marched from Chosin in that horrible winter of the Korean Conflict, the Medal of Honor winner, Col. Peter Chambers whom I was fortunate to know, and others. All these, and more, have kept the torch of freedom alive so that we might enjoy the fruits of their sacrifices.

I hope you will join me in prayers for the safety of our service persons of today and for the memory of those gone before who have preserved the precious gift of freedom we enjoy. With all the challenges we face today and in the future, I pray that the gift of freedom will not be enjoyed by current and future Americans with blithe neglect, but with a sacred understanding of what a precious gift it is to be free. It is my hope that future generations far into the future will be able to stand beneath our flag and honor those who preserved their freedom.

May God bless us all in this free land, and may God bless America.

Curtis Rivers

The Tragedy of Hatred

2009-06-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

This week a guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. was killed by a white supremacist/neo nazi named James von Brunn. Von Brunn is 88 years old, and has hosted a website for years that I have checked and found filled with the all-too-typical irrational hatred found in such sites and publications. Twisting the Bible, ignoring the truth of history, and completely missing the love of God, these people and their organizations thrive on hate...hate for all who are different from themselves. They hate all ethnic groups, all other races, other nations...I believe they are like the character "Gollum" in J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings. Gollum is actually a man named Smeagle, who has been seduced by the power of one of the rings which exist in the mythical world of hobbits and faries.

Gollum was once an ordinary person, but he came into contact with something which appealed to the basest and most horrible parts of his makeup. It promised power if he simply put himself underneath its thrall, and he does just that. The longer he keeps the ring, the more tragically monsterish he becomes. When we encounter him in the book and movies, he is a pale twisted figure who is only filled with the desire to have the power the ring offers. He will do anything to possess the ring and its power. His humanity is lost.

People like Von Brunn are similar to Gollum. They rapidly descend into less-and-less of a human form. Von Brunn's son tells us he destroyed his wife, his children, and all about him who longed for normalcy. Twisted beyond recognition as a rational and loving human, people who give their lives to hate descend into a living hell of their own making. And...they desperately attempt to make everyone with whom they have contact into images of themselves. As they continue on their journey to destruction, they finally remake the very image of God, Himself, into their own image.

The great tragedy of such persons is that they totally miss the reality of our creation. We are designed to be children of Light...Hope...Peace...Love! And, their legacy is one of sorrow and tears for all about them. They finally descend into a demonic form clad in human skin.

The ultimate tragedy is that they miss totally the forgiving and loving nature of God. And, as people so far from God, they become pitiable creatures able only to live in darkness...afraid of The Light.

Our call is not to hate these persons, but to pity them and to pray for them. Once in a while one of these persons is able to wrest themselves from their destructive path and look honestly into themselves and into the face of the Watiing Father, God, who waits hoping for every child gone astray to come home. So, please pray for Stephen Johns (the guard he killed) and his family, but don't forget to pray also for James von Brunn and his shattered family which he has tragically destroyed as surely as he has the family of Stephen Johns.

We are called to be merciful, as God is merciful, and we are called to pray that those whose lives are lost in the darkness can come to The Light of God. It is pretty hard to pray for such persons, but that is one of the tasks to which Jesus explicitly calls us.

May God have mercy on us all, as we try to live His way.

Curtis Rivers
6-12-09

Pentecost

2009-05-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Pentecost Sunday is this Sunday. Pentecost is the birthday of The Church, and also is the day upon which the Disciples received the gift of The Holy Spirit. After receiving that gift, the Disciples were able to speak other languages, and preached to people in Jerusalem in their native tongues, with the result that a great throng were baptised and became Christians.

One of the most interesting things about this day is that the Disciples received The Holy Spirit when they were gathered together. They received it as a community of faith, not individually at separate locations and times. The birth of The Church was an event of the community of faith receiving God's blessing of The Holy Spirit as a group.

One of the most prevalent things we hear today is people stating: "...well, I'm not religious, but I'm a spiritual person." What that usually means is that they do not express faith in the gathered community we know as The Church. It usually means that they dabble in various practices from time-to-time, but they make no real commitment to become a part of any community of faith.

Without community, faith becomes a personal experience, and little else. Without community, faith has little opportunity to be expressed as Jesus taught it should be expressed: as a part of a community. Sadly, for many of those who make this statement, it is simply an excuse for opting out of the community of faith in favor of whatever strikes the person at the moment.

At the center of The Christian faith is the word, "Community." Again-and-again through history we find the faith expressed as a community. Community is where it began, and in community is where it is best experienced and practiced. The Christian Faith has never been a solo performance, it is a communal art, practiced in community and expressed to the world by that community of believers.

So, Pentecost: the beginning of The Church. It is my hope that you will celebrate this season in the community of faith, and that you will seek to deepen your experience of faith in the way in which you practice your faith in the gatherings of believers we call The Community of Faith.

Curtis Rivers

springtime thoughts

2009-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally upon us. The bullfrog in our pond is becoming increasingly bombastic at times, and the whipporwill which has chosen our place to take up residence during the past few years has returned in full volume...obnoxiously so. Anyone who thinks whipporwills have a lovely song ought to be subjected to that repetetive verse at full blast night-after-night. I swear our whipporwill uses Peavy speakers set at full gain. He can wake the dead.

One of the great tragedies of modern life is the loss of the sounds of nature. I grew up with the distant sound of steam engine whistles from Inman Yard in Atlanta and the nightime sounds of the acres of woods surrounding our home. Since Angela and I have bought our home near Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville, we have both returned to the sounds of our childhoods...the sounds of the natural world.

The average kid with whom we work never experiences those sounds. Instead, their lives are filled with the passing notes of boom-boxed cars, the blast of stereos and tv's in every room, and the incessant sounds of the music from their mp 3 players. They live in a different world from every generation which has preceeded them: a wired world.

The Scriptures tell us: "be still and know that I am God." How can we be still if there is no place in which we can retreat for stillness? How can we be still if we have never experienced that wonderful feeling of the absence of incessant sounds? Perhaps one of our greatest challenges in today's world is that of stillness. How can we know God if we cannot "come away" from the intrusion of the outside world?

My challenge to you on this springtime night when I am surrounded with only the sounds of wind, insects, and the occasionally passing of a nightime auto, is to find a place in your life for stillness...a place where you may experience the stillness of God.

When you do find such a place, may you treasure it as the place where God is found. Surely, we find God in all of life, but in stillness...that place where we can quiet our souls...there is a specialness that is found in no other experience. So..."Be Still." And my prayer for you is that, in whatever place of stillness you find, may God touch you there.

Curtis Rivers
29 April, 2009

February

2009-02-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

February is upon us, and I have finally begun to recover from my knee replacement surgery enough to have a few lucid thoughts. I do have to thank the therapists who have diligently worked with me so that I am finally beginning to be able to turn the crank of a bicycle again with my incredibly stiff left knee. I have struggled with the knee for over twenty years, and it had finally gotten so stiff I was not able to ride. I'll let you know when I am back on my bicycle again with any sort of regularity.
When you have your first major surgery at age 66, you begin to see how incredibly lucky you are. After all, I have had my share of adventures and scrapes, and it has taken this episode to show me how incredibly brave all those people I have worked with over the yeard during their surgeries and recovery have been. You never know another's situation until you walk in their shoes.
It is also interesting to begin to feel your body coming back to life after such an adventure. I find myself amazed at the resiliancy of this machine of flesh and bone God has given me.
I am currently reading a book called Descarte's Bones, which tells much of Descarte's life story, as well as the amazing story of the journey of his bones following his death. I am also recalling much of the wonderful story of the history of human thought which evolved so much during the seventeenth century, and greatly due to the immense work by Descartes and others who opened the Enlightenment period. Today we are seeing the resulting amalgamation of thought which is bringing the fields of theology and science back together again as an understanding of the integrated and wholistic approach which is basic to our understanding knowledge as both a gift of God and as a way in which God is revealed through our thoughtful endeavors.
This past Sunday I told the story of how Barack Obama's political theory has been shaped by his experiences with and understanding of Christian theology melded into an understanding of how government can be reflective of the Gospel. The story of his first experience with the preaching of Jeremiah Wright is an explosive incident which opened his mind to what St. Paul proclaims as Christians' "sure hope." Out of that incident he developed his theories which led to his book titled with the same title as Wright's sermon The Audacity of Hope.
As I write, the Senate and House have agreed to the framework for the economic stimulus package which will be voted on in the next few days and signed shortly into law by the president. I would hope that all who read this, whether or not they agree with or like Obama, will pray for the success of the package and the revitalization of our economy. We have fed about 250 people so far this year with our food bank, a situation which is unlike any we have experienced in the ministry. We fed six families today.
Pray for immigration reform. People are suffering greatly because of the unjust laws which have derived from the government's unwillingness to deal with this issue positively in the past few years. We need a Christian resolution, and we need it soon. People...good people...are hurting, and we need to find relief for them.
Keep our ministry in your prayers. Ray Smith, Frances Smith's husband is very ill, and we ask for your prayers for him. Angela's dad, Lucius Gilreath, is in the hospital, and we pray for him. We also pray for Cathy Olalde and Heather Ramirez, on the loss of their father and grandfather, respectively.
Pax,
Curtis

One Night God came to Earth...

2008-12-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Our scripture this week is Mary's Magnificat...that wonderful song of praise which begins, "My soul doth magnify the Lord..." In that beautiful song in which Mary both subjugates her will to God's and praises God's magnificent power, we are taken again into the mystery and depth of the coming of Christ.

The birth of Jesus is not an isolated event. It begins with Elizabeth's pregnancy with John, continues with the Immaculate Conception, the Angel's visit with Joseph, the journey to Bethleham...the journey of the Magi...the appearance of the Angels to the Shepherds...there is such miraculous depth and complexity. But, that is all eclipsed by the birth itself. God presents Himself to us in the form of a child.

This story is not to be approached as adults, but as children ourselves. As we come to the manger, we forget all which leads to the moment and are captured by the event itself: God sends His mighty answer for humanity in the form of a helpless baby. When we come to understand that, we finally approach our understanding of God in the way in which He wants. We simply come adoring, praising, and humbly bowing before such reverent humility. God has come to us...and it is not with fanfare and trumpets, but in the first cry of a child in the stillness of the cold winter's night of Bethlehem.

Every time I think of that I get chills.

Curtis Rivers
12-10-08

2008-12-03T14:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man's hat,
If you haven't got a penny, a hapenny will do
If you haven't got a hapenny, then God bless you.

This Christmas we come as travellers through a time of want. Across our world millions have lost their lives to tribal warfare, terrorism, and other atrocities. Where is the light? Who will come to save us?

Enter again the child, Jesus. Who comes to save us? The helpless God who strives to bring our hearts into the light of his love. The child who pleads for all the world to put aside those easy lives of hatred and spite, and come to the hard Gospel of Peace.

As Herod slaughtered the infants trying to maintain his awful power at all costs, so do the forces of evil always try to keep goodness at bay. Yet, each year, He comes again...quietly...helpless...a child born among us to bring us light. Herods of the world die away, and others rise...but, always comes again the Child. Comes again the Light.

Who, then, are we believers?

We are candlebearers in the darkness...lantern holders in the night, light in a world of despair. We are His messengers, and our message is simply to carry the light. If we do this, the darkness will never win, and Peace will come through us in tiny but meaningful ways.

To paraphrase T.H. White's The Once and Future King, we are the bearers of the candle of God's Hope for humankind. "That light, don't let it out."

2008-11-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is upon us, and, I have a great deal for which to be thankful. A loving wife. A wonderful daughter. A whole bunch of other ancillary kids, Alex, my son in the Air Force, Suphanni, my Thai daughter, Jessy/Jing, my Chinese daughter, Veronica, my Mexican daughter, and a host of kids with whom we work each day and whom we love.
On Thanksgiving day we will have the ability to gather with our family and eat a sumptuous meal together. We will recall our blessings...and we are blessed.
Millions are not! Millions go hungry. Millions don't have jobs. Millions have no roof over their heads. Even more poignant, millions are without hope.
All this could be avoided if we simply worked together for the common good. One of the great sadnesses of our world is that we don't do that. I am sure our Heavenly Father weeps at our inability to unite for good.
What can I do? More! The problem is that you and I are single people and can only do so much. But, together, we can do twice as much as one.
The challenge this Thanksgiving season is to try and do our best for those about us...and to try and encourage one other person to become involved with others.
It is the Christian thing to do.
Curtis Rivers

2008-10-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

The election is just around the corner: Angela and I voted yesterday, and I have yet to ask her about her votes. I wonder if we both voted the same way, or, if we might have done what my parents often joked about: canceled each other's vote? At any rate, we both voted, and, in this crucial and historic election, I think that is most important. One of the great gifts we have here is that of actually choosing our leadership. Sometimes that elevates our nation to great heights, and sometimes it condemns us to hardship and ordinariness. Perhaps this election will produce leadership which is both inspirational and groundbreaking in the most positive fashion. For all of you, I encourage you to vote your convictions, and to prayerfully consider your convictions before you vote. I would also encourage all of you to examine the positions and the candidates and make your vote based on your thoughtful and prayerful understanding.

Secondly, the economy.
Our church is largely made up of ordinary people who work ordinary jobs. The economic ramifications of the downturn in our economy is painfully felt by our membership. Jobs have hours curtailed, some people get laid off, and some businesses are in danger of going under. We ask that you pray for our leadership to make the right decisions to lead us out of this danger, and to pray for those in our number who are hurt by adjustable rate mortgages and jobs being at risk.

And, thirdly,
We pray for our church and its position in the immigration struggles. Our members are painfully aware of immigration issues, and we pray for a logical resolution to the immigration debacle in which our nation is embroiled.

Curtis Rivers
October 22, 2008

2008-10-07T11:55:00.001-07:00

It is the day of the second presidential debate...the bailout has begun for Wall Street, Ben Bernacke has announced that the financial crisis is deepening...people are frightened...jobs are disappearing...a huge raid in SC today brought about the capture of over 300 people believed to be illegal...just wanting a job that no one here will do. It is a dark world for many.

In that darkness we need light. In that darkness we need hope. It is time people...ordinary people...began to dream dreams and see visions again. It is time for rising above the ordinary by which we are described into the extraordinary which we are. It is time for hope and justice to roll down. It is time!

It is time...
Time for beginnings,
When ordinary men and women
Find that extraordinary spark we truly are...
All of us...
Brothers, sisters,
Dark-skinned people like my daughter,
And pale skinned people like me.
It is time...
For us to band together
In peace and love
To explore the greatness we are meant to be,
When we demand greatness
Of our leaders
And Justice for the least among us.
It is time...
Time to put self behind
And others before us,
To put me into the closet
And we into the living room
It is time...
It is time...
For greatness,
And hopes,
And dreams.
It is time!
Let us do this thing!
It is time!

In His Hands

2008-09-10T13:32:00.000-07:00

The life of The Spirit is a strange one. It's something like being in a boat on a treacherous river without paddle or oars, totally at the mercy of a force outside yourself. You plunge down one rapid to the next, never knowing when mishap or mayhem may plunge you into the freezing water...and if it does...will you gain safety of shoreline or boat again, or be dashed against the rocks.

In the midst of that mayhem you may lose sight of God's power and experience the panic of any sane person, or...if you are fortunate, you may have moments of lucidity in which your soul is calmed and your spirit quieted by the One who controls all about you. In those moments you are among the most privileged, for you recognize the hands of God in whose grasp you are. It is a feeling like no other.

St. Paul asked if anything could threaten us? Can peril, or powers, or anything else? Then answer is no! Safe in God's hands, we plunge through the river of life. That life may batter us, bruise us, or even drown us; but God is still with us, and the essential part of us which is God's own part, our soul, will always arrive safe and whole in God's hands at the intended destination.

So, fellow travelers, on we go...but safe in His hands. It is a wonderful trip.

Curtis Rivers

Prayer

2008-07-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Faith is a funny thing...like the wind it blows where it will and when it will, yet we need the presence of God constantly, and our faith is that which brings us into that so sought-after relationship. Keeping faith is easy in good times, and most difficult in hard times. Today, we are in the midst of hard times for so many people. It is our prayer, then, that those experiencing the hard times of life will find God very near, and the Spirit of God hovering upon their lives. This is our prayer for all God's children. Curtis

New Ideas

2008-07-17T14:44:00.001-07:00

Al Gore has challenged the U.S. to become independent of oil for our electrical energy production over the next ten years. Can it be done? Yes! Will it be? Probably not, because big oil and other energy-producing industries have such a strangle hold on both the Republican party and on our government as a whole. Besides that, I am no longer sure the American public has the will to do such an heroic thing.

Look at the war in Iraq. It has been a war resting on the strong shoulders of the volunteer military, with fewer-and-fewer members of that military coming from the higher levels of the socio-economic strata in our nation. The current administration has given us a war without a true call for national sacrifice, and the majority of us sit home in comfort. This is a far cry from the sacrifices of other wars.

The current administration, aided by a weak congress, has led us ever-onward into disastrous policies with lack of proper oversight in so many areas that financial crisis, energy crisis, and military crisis all confront us along with political infighting which freezes our national will because of partisanship. It is the most disastrous time in my lifetime of over sixty-five years.

What is needed? Resolve to do better, and a willingness to work together for the common good. We can become energy independent. We can develop new technologies which will make the planet clean and enhance the living of all humans. We can integrate the immigrants in our midst and stop using them for partisan pawns to garner votes through fear. We can strengthen our nation, but, will we?

Some solutions come to mind. 1. National Service for all who wish to vote, possibly hold public office, and have the responsibilities of full citizenship. Such service can be far broader than military, and strengthen our nation immeasurably. Hospitals, public services, transportation, etc. could be avenues for this service. Those who did not wish to serve would give us certain rights for life, with the option of service open throughout their lives, should they wish to serve. 2. No private financing of political campaigns. All have a level playing field, and the rich have no more sway than the poor. 3. A health care system of integrated public and private systems which works for all people. 4. Adequate taxation of the rich to solve some of the inadequacies of the present system. 5. Term limits for all political positions. Period! 6. Mandated equalization of salary-systems so the gap between poor and rich does not continue to escalate. 7. Modernization of our immigration law to provide ways for those here to stay legally provided criminal background checks are made, taxes are paid, etc. The calls for harsher immigration laws are insane in terms of just the economic impact of such laws, which would be disastrous. 8. Sane energy laws which will give us energy independence and which will protect the environment. We don’t need more oil, we need new ideas. 9. Open the race for outer space for the vast industrial wealth that lies there, as well as scientific advancement.

Those are simply some ideas. Give me your input!

Curtis Rivers

4th wishes and grumblings

2008-07-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

The fourth of July is a special day: it celebrates the birth of our nation as a place of equal opportunity for all people. Sadly, with the dominance of right-wing extremism in today's politics and in the Christianity of the United States, we find that goal of equality diminishing. The proliferation of supply-side economics has dramatically widened the gap between rich and poor, and the dominance of fundamentalism has widened the gap between those whose Christianity is other than fundamentalism and those whose faith is fundamentalist. It has also widened the gap between concepts of moderation and those of dogmatism in both faith and politics. It is my hope that the dialogue between liberals, moderates, and conservatives may be opened up through love to a point at which meaningful conversation between the groups may emerge. Alas, this has not yet been reached at the present. Immigration, the socio-economic gap, better control of energy corporations, more environmental effort, general agreement on ways to strengthen the economy while not enabling an even-more dramatic disparity between rich and poor, and a righteous campaign to make the art of villification of one's opponents less popular in the political areana may help. The Founding Fathers desire that we all be able to pursue the goals of self-fulfillment and personal happiness should be goals for which we all can work. Curtisaurus

2008-07-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

One of the current controversies in the United Methodist Church is the possible building of the George W. Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Southern Methodist University. I stand wholeheartedly against this, as I believe Mr. Bush has acted against the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church repeatedly and flagrantly in his presidency. I am including a letter from Dr. Tex Samples, one of our finest theologians, to the Southeast Jurisdiction Delegates of the United Methodist Church. I endorse Dr. Samples comments, and solicit your comments on the controversy. If you agree with me on this issue as a United Methodist, or want to learn more on how to formally join the petition of disagreement with this move, you may contact me at curtisaurus@yahoo.com. If you wish to comment either pro-or-con, you are invited to do so on this blog.

A Letter to SCJ Delegates from Tex SampleOn June 30, 2008, the letter below was sent from Dr. Tex Sample, emeritus professor at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, to all the SCJ delegates.
Goodyear, ArizonaJune 25, 2008
Dear South Central Jurisdictional Conference Delegate,
Having been a Jurisdictional delegate many times, I have some sense of the heavy responsibilities you now bear and the claims upon you. I write you, then, about a matter of great urgency and significance or I would not otherwise ask for your attention.
On March 14, 2007, Southern Methodist University asked the Mission Council, a meeting of SCJ representatives, for permission to lease campus property to the Bush Foundation as the site for the President George W. Bush library, museum, and policy institute.
In January 2008, following the Mission Council meeting, the SCJ College of Bishops interpreted the action of the Mission Council and gave the assurance, requested by the Bush Foundation, that the Mission Council had authority to approve the lease of the jurisdictional property on the SMU campus.
But the College of Bishops does not have this authority according to Paragraph 56, Article II.4 of the constitution of The United Methodist Church (p. 38). In the 2004 Book of Discipline, it specifically states: “The Judicial Council shall have authority to hear and determine the legality of any action taken therein by any jurisdictional conference board or body, upon appeal by one-third of the members thereof in a Jurisdictional Conference.”
By giving their interpretation, the SCJ College of Bishops not only preempted the authority of the Judicial Council but also set the stage for the lease signing and for closing the door to a Jurisdictional Conference vote.
It may be that a technical case can be made for such an assumption of your authority as a Jurisdictional Conference delegate. My problem with the decision, however, is its totally inadequate regard of the larger theological, ecclesial and ethical issues involved, whether technically permissible or not.
Unlike some, I do not object to the Bush Library and Museum, as such, being on the SMU campus. While the Bush Administration is a failed presidency, such political failure is a matter for serious historical research and evaluation. It is important to remember, however, that President Bush signed Executive Order 13233, which provides former presidents and, after their deaths, their families with unlimited powers to deny or grant access to documents generated under their administrations. To be sure, one can appropriately be concerned about matters that have to do with national security and other important papers that need to be confidential, but the National Archives and Records Administration handle these matters. President Bush’s executive order is not needed for them. This executive order places unjustifiable limitations on scholarship and research.
The greater problem is the partisan multi-million dollar Bush Institute, which will be totally under the control of the Bush Presidential Foundation, not SMU. While any viewpoints expressed by Institute Fellows will accordingly be identified with the Foundation, it nevertheless makes SMU the location and signifying marker of this partisan think tank. Furthermore, the purpose of this Institute is to promote the politically partisan and ethically questionable ideas and policies of George W. Bush.
The influence of neo-conservative and supply-side economic thought and policy has been dominant in the United States now for more than 35 years, and the Bush Administration the most disastrous example of it. These politics and economics have contributed to a sharply growing inequality in income and wealth, a tax system that serves the rich, an increasing insecurity for middle class families, the flattening of wages for workers while their productivity increases, growing concentrations of power in corporate America and in the media, and the loss of regulation of corporate activity resulting in devastating disruptions of our national life, such as Enron and the sub-prime loan housing crisis. This list names only a few of the problems with neoconservative politics and supply-side economics.
Furthermore, commitment to a so-called “free market” without regard to the common good is a violation of Christian teaching. Not to mention that commitment to a “free market” oblivious to concentrations of economic power is delusional fantasy when it is not a self-serving worldview committed to the interests of the few at the expense of the many. What we have in neoconservative politics and supply side economics is what someone has called “feeding the horses so the birds can eat.”
Even worse, Bush’s pre-emptive war against Iraq, the complicity of his administration in torture, and the serious disregard for human rights in the Bush administration campaign against terrorism raise even more sharply the question of why we would permit this institute on the SMU campus. The Social Principles state: “We believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ…” (165, C). Is this not even more so when the war is pre-emptive? The Social Principles further declare: “the mistreatment or torture of persons by governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching” (164, A). The complicity of the Bush administration in torture stands clearly in opposition to this teaching. Further, the Social Principles assert that “We strongly reject domestic surveillance” (164, A), yet this has become policy in the Bush administration. I have not mentioned at least five other violations of The United Methodist Church’s Social Principles by the Bush Administration: environmental abuses (Par. 160), the health of children (162, C), the death penalty (164, G), social services and poverty (163, E), and freedom of information (164, D).
Parenthetically, the Bush complex will pay a single dollar for a 99-year lease for the SMU property with a 249-year option to renew, all of which the Bush Foundation has required. This means that the next chance the SCJ will have to address this issue is the middle of the 23rd century. This constitutes a direct endowment of the Bush Institute through a 348-year give-away “lease” of land, which the SCJ owns, to the Bush Foundation and its causes.
Why is the SCJ making this kind of gift to any president and to the promotion of policies and views which stand in direct contradiction to the Social Principles and the positions of The United Methodist Church?
Finally, I do not wish to be disrespectful to our College of Bishops whose interpretation, if not challenged, gives a final okay to this matter. Many of them I know, respect and love. But under pressure from President Bush’s representatives – one more example of the Bush administration’s tendency to rush to a decision as they did in the war on Iraq – our College of Bishops made a mistake that needs to be reversed. I urge you to do so.
Church order must take precedence here, especially when authority for the review of the Mission Council action belongs to the Judicial Council, and when approval of this use of the SMU campus actually belongs to the South Central Jurisdiction. Even more important, the SCJ ought not to subsidize or provide de facto endorsement to a partisan institute that stands in opposition to our United Methodist stated social witness.
Grace and peace,Tex SampleRetired Clergy Member, Missouri AreaSCJ Delegate, 1976-1996

Immigration and the election

2008-06-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Who will you vote for, if you can vote. Even if you can't, who do you like, and why? Who will help us with a speedy immigration policy to make those here legal? McCain and Obama have very similar thoughts on immigration, and very different thoughts on taxes, Iraq, issues of national security, and many others. What do you think?" What sort of stances should the church take on the salient issues confronting us in this election year? Curtisaurus

2008-06-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the newest book review for Sunday, June 7th.

KILLING ROMMEL
By: Steven Pressfield
Doubleday, N.Y. 2008

Steven Pressfield’s newest novel, Killing Rommel, is one of the finer World War II novels I have read. It is a simple story of both war and coming-of-age for an entire generation, yet the simplicity of style undergirds a book with great depth and insight into the generation of young men from the British nations who formed the mighty war machine which, along with the other Allied nations, defeated Germany’s finest military minds with their innovative and determined waging of the greatest international war in history.

The time is autumn of 1942. Hitler’s armies occupy Europe. France has fallen. England is isolated and under siege. In North Africa, the prospects are terribly grim. Germany’s greatest general, Erwin Rommel, heads the Afrika Korps of the German Army, and his audacious leadership, coupled with the professionalism of the Germany Army, has secured much of North Africa; while imminently threatening Egypt, Suez, and the oilfields of the Middle East. Should Rommel capture Suez and the Middle East oilfields, the supremacy of Germany would be almost assured. Without passage through Suez and the oil of the Middle East, the Allied forces will be practically defeated through denial of the petroleum on which modern armies run.

The story of the campaign which eventually defeated the Afrika Korps is narrated through the memoirs of R. Lawrence Chapman, an English publisher who, as a young lieutenant, found himself attached to the British Long Range Desert Group: a secret group of soldiers whose mission was to penetrate the German lines in the Sahara and perform intelligence-gathering, espionage, and bold attacks on specific targets to weaken the Afrika Korps’ ability to achieve their objectives. The frontpiece inscription of the book is taken from the initial British Army Circular in 1940 which called for volunteers. It reads: Only men who do not mind a hard life, with scanty food, little water and lots of discomfort, men who possess stamina and initiative, need apply.

Chapman finds himself attached to the Long Range Desert Group from his normal tank unit. He is attached only for a short time to gain certain information necessary for armored unit movement across certain areas of the Sahara. His attachement, however, stretches out as he becomes more-and-more valuable to the Long Range Group. He finally ends up as a patrol leader in the campaign led by General Montgomery which finally defeated the Afrika Korps. In the midst of all this, he participates in one particularly interesting mission: a super-secret mission to kill Erwin Rommel.

Through the eyes of Lt. Chapman we find ourselves accompanying the Long Range Desert Group on several missions, and then we enter the action surrounding the single patrol to kill Rommel. Following the unsuccessful attempt, the Group then guides Montgomery’s army to accessible routes against the Afrika Korps in the final drives of that campaign.

Pressfield’s Lt. Chapman is completely believable, especially in the way in which Pressfield has captured the psychology of the generation as well as the language, complete with slang and the various dialects of the soldiers comprising the LRDG’s makeup from the far corners of The British Empire. The action and the hardships of the group have a phenomenal touch of the real stories from that conflict, and the reader is readily transported into the world and action of the Africa Campaign of World War II.

Rommel is portrayed as the almost-mystical character he became to both the troops of the Allied armies as well as the men of the Axis powers. His lead-from-the-front style and his adherence to the chivalry of a time-long-past make him into the sort of figure whose very presence can change the direction of a major battle in a split-second. His gallantry in the single experience Chapman has with the general is a beautiful portrayal of the power such a man has to change the pages of history.

The book is presented as being published after Lt. Chapman’s death. His godson, a New York publisher publishes Chapman’s memoir following his death. In the postscript, the godson describes Chapman’s funeral. After the funeral he talks with a New Zealander who has made the flight to be present at the funeral: he is Chapman’s sergeant; Sgt. Collier. He stays only long enough to attend the funeral and to make a visit to the gravesite. The godson finds that Sgt. Collier has left something on the gravestone. I let the novel’s final words speak for themselves.

On the shelf supporting the headstone sat a tiny toy truck painted in desert camouflage-a ’42 Chevrolet 30-hundredweight. I picked it up and held it for a moment in the winter light. I could see the minature sun compass and radiator condenser, the Browning and the twin Vickers Ks. Three soldiers in desert garb manned the vehicle: a driver, a gunner, and-standing, with his binoculars pressed to his eyes-a patrol commander.

This book is not only good, but it has something of a mystical touch with the men and the time in which it takes place. I found myself mesmerized as I read. Seldom do we find such good historical fiction. You will not be disappointed in reading the fine work.

Good Reading,
Curtis Rivers
6-3-08
curtisaurus@yahoo.com

Immigration Reform

2008-05-22T06:48:00.001-07:00

It is the belief of our congregation that immigration reform is desperately needed. We believe that reform should include a way for those already here who have been living within the law to achieve legal residency. We believe immigration is a moral issue rather than just a legal one, and we also believe that rational thinking shows that our nation needs a permanent immigrant work force. We believe that the current immigrant bashing is outside the will of God, and that Christ calls us to compassion for our brothers and sisters.

immigration

2008-05-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

This site is obviously pro-immigration reform, with an emphasis on legalizing persons already here who are law-abiding. Let us know your opinions, and we'll respond. Curtis

Book Review, Rubicon

2008-05-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

RUBICON
By: Lawrence Alexander
Harper Collins, N.Y. 2008

The title of this book relates to the historic crossing of the Rubicon river, a relatively minor stream in northern Italy. By Julius Caesar in 49BC. The generals of Rome were never to come south of the Rubicon with an army, for to do so would threaten Rome itself with civil war. Caesar defied that rule, entered Rome with his army, and installed himself as Rome’s first Caesar, or Emperor.

In this novel, a plot to overthrow the government of the United States is marked by the same name as that of the Italian river. In this plot, a thinly-veiled fictional cast of characters uses the current concern for the sitting president’s usurpation of powers generally shared with the congress. In this book, Alexander proposes a fictional account of the vice president and other shadowy figures of the administration using the war on terror as a reason for a treasonous plot to take The United States from its history as a Republic into their vision of an Imperial United States. It is a frightening portrait, and very plausible.

Democratic senator Bobby Hart of California is the central figure of the novel along with his Republican senatorial colleague and close friend Charles Thomas Ryan. These two will cross the aisle in their diligent search for the meaning of the code name “Rubicon,” which Hart discovers through his mysterious contact with a CIA friend of his father, Gunther Kramer. Kramer, a former East German intelligence operative, is supposed to have been dead for a decade, but he has been in hiding in Damascus following the dissolution of the old Soviet Union. Upon learning of the plot to overthrow the U.S. government, he contacts Bobby, who arranges to meet him in Germany. They meet. As soon as they sit down at a table in the restaurant Kramer has specified, Kramer is killed by a sniper’s bullet, and Hart is also shot, but not fatally.

Hart returns to the U.S. only to have another tragedy hit. A longtime CIA friend, Assistant Director Raymond Caulfield talks with Hart about Kramer’s finding. Caulfield tries to discover if the CIA is involved, and he is murdered. It seems that Rubicon is not only a plot, but a deadly one at that. Still, unable to discover exactly what Rubicon may be about, Hart plunges on, trying to discover the meaning of this deadly scheme.

Interwoven in the plot is the story of Helen, Hart’s wife. She has retreated from public life, unable to manage the demanding life of a senator’s wife. The two are very much in love, but Helen has decided to remain at their California home instead of immersing herself in Washington’s constant political intrigue.

Two more murders occur: both bombings. First, the Democratic candidate for president is killed by a suicide bomber. Shortly after, the Republican candidate is killed in Atlanta by another terrorist. Following these two political assassinations, the parameters of Rubicon become increasingly clear: it is a plot to destroy our democratic form of government and instill all authority in the office of president. It is treason most foul!
The spiral continues as Hart and Ryan begin to discover that the plot does have its roots in the offices of the vice president…or higher. And…the administration’s attorney general begins to assert that the president is issuing an order to put the election off until such time as the president, as commander-in-chief, gives the all-clear from the threat of further terrorist attacks. As this announcement, Hart meets with an Egyptian national who was held for several years at Guantanamo as a terrorist on false charges. He was repeatedly tortured there, and was finally released by the U.S. under the policy of rendition with the understanding he was being released for further torture in a friendly country. Not so! He was able to escape. He tells Hart of further information about Rubicon, how Iraqis were recruited at Guantanamo by the U.S. for secret missions of terror against the U.S. mainland. These are the people who have been terrorizing our nation.

Using this information, and more, Hart and Ryan take action against the administration’s order to delay the election. They take their case to the Supreme Court, where Hart argues eloquently that the Constitution only allows the President a limited term, and he cannot lengthen it under any circumstances. In lieu of candidates from the parties, it should be the responsibility of the Electoral College to select a president. The last time the College did so, the president selected was George Washington.

I will leave you at that point: with the men waiting the decision of The Court. This is a most plausible tale, with tendrils of truth from a number of modern events. It is a frightening reminder that much of our politics today are run by the power of fear. If people are afraid, they will give power to just about anyone they feel will protect them. This truism makes our grasp on freedom more tenuous, and we all need reminders like this book to help us disregard fear-mongers and hold fast to the gift of freedom with all our might.

Good Reading
Curtis Rivers
May 20, 2008

An Introduction

2008-05-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hello,
My name is Curtis Rivers, and I am one of the pastors at Douglas Street United Methodist Church in Cartersville, GA. I am married to Rev. Angela Rivers, the Sr. pastor at Douglas Street, and we have one daughter, Keila, who is entering her sophomore year at Berry College in Rome, Ga. For the first blog, I want to enter the information below as interesting material to stimulate us into thought about the two major divergent political/religious belief systems which influence life here in the United States.

**********************************************************************************

Perhaps the derogatory naming of liberals as “bleeding hearts” is pretty accurate, according to research by Dr. John T. Jost, a professor at New York Universtiy, and Jamie L. Napier, who have produced a most interesting study: Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals? In this study they have found a direct correlation between the happiness of conservatives vs liberals through studying divergent major psychological factors in the general population of the two groups.

It has already been posited by researchers that there is a difference in cognitive styles and motivation of the two groups. As a group, liberals tend to enjoy thinking more and to prolong cognitive closure, while conservatives tend to prefer relatively seimple, unambiguous answers to life’s questions. (Kruglanski, Pierro, Mannetti, & De Grada, 2006) This proclivity toward a more thoughtful and analytical approach to life-situations seemingly provides a great deal of unhappiness for liberals as they witness inequities between groups in life.

Conservatives, however, are more prone to be influenced by what is called system-justification theory: specifically in that they are able to rationalize inequities in society as fair due to a process of rationalization. This system of rationalization makes conservatives more liable to justify inequities based on their understanding of society as a “meritocracy.” In a meritocracy, you get to whatever level of achievement by “earning” that level. If you are poor, you simply haven’t earned the benefits of wealth. This means that, while liberals agonize over inequality, it simply doesn’t bother conservatives in the same fashion.

The current study shows that conservatives exhibit a kind of ideological buffering process which allows them to distance themselves from the inequities others suffer in society, while liberals do not possess this ability to distance themselves from the pain of society’s inequalities. Thus, the liberal politician or public figure who is known for “feeling the pain” of others may not truly have an option in his/her encounters with societal inequities.

The conundrum produced by this psychological divergence between conservatives and liberals may present an interesting puzzle for us to begin working on: how do the two divergent groups use this current research to begin a meaningful dialogue aimed toward establishing an ability to positively bridge the gap this research illustrates.

Let me know your thoughts.
Curtisaurus