Children of Father God and Mother Earth
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
BOOK REVIEW: Jungle Tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Monday, January 6, 2025
MOVIE REVIEW: The Rift
Monday, December 16, 2024
BOOK REVIEW: The Bhagavad Gita by Anonymous
This is classic Hindu literature that is actually part of a larger work called Mahabharata. It is the narrative of a conversation between an Indian prince and the god Krishna, and is written in poetic form. It puts forward the duality of the individual self and the god self within each being, and the concept of reincarnation. It also asks its adherents to meditate solely to lose their individuality and embody only the god self, with absence of all emotion or desire.
While I respect this book as being extremely important to the Hindu religion and its followers, I have a problem with the idea of paradise being premised on the total loss of the individual. In my opinion, how can one look forward to a time of bliss when all ability to enjoy it has been taken away? Isn’t paradise supposed to be the one place where someone can be happy and contented, not an emotionless lump that simply sits and accepts their surroundings or is merely an infinitely small part of a greater whole? The individual has to be whole and complete to be able to fully appreciate a state of being where conflict and suffering are absent. For this reason, I still prefer a God that accepts the full individual and loves them just as they are without any meditation or work on their part needed.
Monday, December 2, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: Behemoth
Monday, November 18, 2024
BOOK REVIEW: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
This is the fifth book of the Narnia series of books about a magical land where a huge Lion presides over talking animals and mythological creatures. Into this land four brothers and sisters have been taken to rid the land of evil and become its royalty. This story, however, takes place in the land of Calormen, which is to the south of Narnia, and involves a young boy who runs away from the fisherman who raised him rather than be sold as a slave. With him is a Talking Horse that was stolen from Narnia when it was young, and together they find themselves the only ones who can warn the Narnians that Calormen is about to attack them. In the process they learn their own worth and a little humility.
Though fifth to be published, this is chronologically the third story in the timeframe of Narnia. The author was best known as one of the leading Christian apologists in the 20th century and this novel has definite Christian overtones. However, it is also a great adventure story as a boy who has never had anything in his life, not even love, finds he is more than he ever dreamed he could be. With enough action and tense moments to keep the reader spellbound, this is a definite must for fantasy fans and young people of all ages.
Monday, November 4, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: Stardust
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
BOOK REVIEW: What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do by David Jeremiah
The author of this book is a staple on many Christian radio stations and broadcasting networks. Head pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, and president of a Christian college connected to the church, David Jeremiah is known as a man who faced the reality of his own mortality when, in 1994, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to undergo stem cell transplant surgery to save his life. That experience is one he draws on in many of his sermons and his broadcast ministry, Turning Point.
In this book the reader is taken through the book of James, using the scriptures to teach things like what to do when a person is not feeling confident, when even small decisions seem overwhelming, when we are being pressured to do the wrong thing, and other dilemmas that life always seems to put in our paths. I do have to warn anyone who listens to Jeremiah’s radio or television programs on an ongoing basis that this might seem like simply reading a series of his sermons. However, for those who are not familiar with Dr. Jeremiah and are looking for answers to help them through difficult times, this is an excellent read.