241 Trump leading to a renewed democracy?
History shows us that the main threat to democracy comes from within. Things start great. Then people become increasingly complacent. The rich, over time, take over. Democracy becomes a shell, in paper only. The people become increasingly unhappy and eventually revolt or place themselves under a tyrant who promises them better times. In the U.S., […]
I almost went to church today
Every Sunday there’s a tug-of-war within me. I was born and raised ‘in church’, was the youngest elder in United Church of Canada history, attended seminary, was ordained into the ministry and served for twenty years before burning out, trying to change things from within, trying to get people to follow Jesus instead of merely […]
244 Trying To Have Fun In Serious Times
I don’t know about you, but it’s harder to be positive these days. On top of what’s going on around me, my book, “And Jesus Wept” – How Christianity Abandoned Jesus-of-Nazareth, comes out in a few weeks. I’m working with the publisher on the marketing and stuff. Very stressful for me. So I had to […]
The Overlooked and Tragic Story of Jesus-of-Nazareth
You may think you know the Jesus story. No doubt you’ve heard many parts of it, from many different sources. I’m not talking here about what you’ve heard in church, about any Christ-figure, any half-God, but the story of the real person who was, without a doubt, the most pivotal man in history. And probably, […]
185 Feb Alexei Navalny, a true hero
Let’s review. Alexei Navalny, the leader of Russia’s main opposition party, has been in and out of prison for a dozen or so years. It’s deemed treasonous in Russia to question Putin. On a short stretch of freedom, two years ago, he was poisoned, the main cause of death for those who oppose Putin. […]
186 Feb. 28-24 Transitions
I know that dreams are ‘windows into the soul’, but I wish they weren’t so cloudy and distorted. I awoke this morning after a raft of dreams (seconds or hours?) that left me quite anxious and agitated. All I […]
187 March 1, 2024 Welcome to the Revolution!
Remember the lesson of the cooked frog, of how it would stay in the water until killed if the water was heated up slowly enough? If unwanted change comes slowly, we are less likely to notice and react. If it comes more quickly, we might do something about it. And revolt. It’s hard […]
188 All in the same boat
I love movies. Yesterday I watched Captains Courageous, the wonderful 1937 adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s book, a story of a young, spoiled boy (Freddie Bartholomew) falling overboard on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. He’s rescued by fishermen (Spencer Tracey, Lionel Barrymore, Mickey Rooney…..) and ‘grows up’ in the three months they fish before returning to […]
189 Agreeing that the only necessary agreement is to make peace
I can still recall some thirty-odd years ago when my four siblings and I gathered at the home of our recently deceased mother. She had died very young and unexpectedly. We were there to share stories, support each other and to divide her belongings. In that intimate time, we found that we had each […]
191 Why the deception regarding ‘Palm Sunday’?
191 Why the deception regarding ‘Palm Sunday’? (If you don’t think historical realities are important, read no farther.) In tens of thousand churches, today is Palm Sunday, with visions of children waving branches and celebrating a time of peace and joy. Reality check: there were/are no palms in Jerusalem, and most of the chants […]
