Lizard Leaps

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, bru...

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

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, en...

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, g...

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 Sample On June 30, 2008, the letter below was sent from Dr. Tex Sample, emeritus professor at St. Paul...

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

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 A...