Wandering Elder

Well, the Fantastic Four are about to hit the screen...again.  Good luck to you, First Family of the Marvel Universe! I have been a fan of the Marvel Universe for a long time.  When I started getting comic books, I found I was more drawn to Marvel than to DC, not that I thought DC was inferior.  I was just hooked into the Marvel Universe far more deeply than with DC. As such, these last few years have been good for Marvel fans.  The movies that have been produced have been spectacular - mostly, anyway.  But I have found that the great specter of money and politics have gotten involved in the Marvel Universe (cinematic), and it kind of makes me cringe. For example, the studio that owns the right to the Avengers doesn't own the right to X-Men, and subsequently can't use the word mutant.   The sad thing, though, is that while studios have this or that right to this or that character, Marvel fans know  their universe and recognize that in order to te...

I recently heard a Bill Cosby routine that dated way back to 1966.  It was great, funny, and delivered with the style and wit that made Cosby a comic superstar.   I also felt oddly guilty for laughing at it.   Given all that has been going on with the rumors and accusations as to what Cosby did or did not do, I find myself asking, "Is Bill Cosby still funny?"  I don't mean can he still make people laugh in the present - apparently he still can.  But as we hear what seems like one damning accusation after another, can we listen to Cosby's old stuff and still laugh?   I don't know.  It may be that in a few years after this scandal has broken (and I hope it has by then!) and we learn whatever there is to learn or it falls back into the list of scandals that keep so many tabloids in business, we can hear his work for its own sake.  Maybe not.  We as a collective society don't always know what to do with scandal-ridden celebrities. ...

Given the nature of Donald Trump's comments regarding Mexicans, one might think that the GOP candidates for the presidency would try to distance themselves from him.  Perhaps it is his money (or perception of having money) that keeps them from doing just this, but it seems that they are not.  Instead, some of them are re-interpreting his comments.  Suddenly what Trump said wasn't racist or misinformed.  Instead, his words are deflected to be comments about "a pressing issue" of a porous border between the United States and Mexico. That isn't what Trump was talking about at all. But what is it that keeps Trump going?  In some polls, he is on the rise.  In some border states, Trump is finding popularity.  Not with Mexicans and not with Mexican-Americans.  But with those of more fairer skin. Why?  I have to wonder if there isn't some very lose connection between Trump gaining popularity after voicing racist and misinformed statements and t...

To study the Bible does not make one a Christian.  To claim oneself as Christian does not make one a student of the Bible.  It has taken me several years to come to this seemingly obvious and simple conclusion.  Perhaps I have known this all along, but was reluctant to admit it.  Now, though, times are a changin' and with decisions concerning the Confederate Flag and the ruling on homosexual marriage, I find that people who have been quoting the Bible with the most ferocity don't seem to want to study it and those who have studied it don't seem to be making ferocious comments.  That isn't always the case, but it does seem to be true more often than not. With regard to the issue of homosexuality in the Bible, there are roughly 7 passages that speak (directly or indirectly) to the issue of homosexuality.  I recently heard a person quote one that I had not before included into that list.  It was from Judges 19:22 which reads, "As they were making their ...

I still find myself put out by my friend's comment of "who cares?" from a few weeks ago (two posts ago).  I find that I feel the same way I did in high school when someone would make fun of a favorite television show or comic book character. Actually, I think of it more in terms of this:  in high school, I and some friends were walking into a McDonalds.  There was a television on and it was playing MTV Unplugged.  Don Henley was singing, and it was one of his mournful ballads from his album The End of the Innocence .  I happened to like the album as did my friends, but as we walked by in a rush for a cheeseburger, one of my friends said, "Doesn't it suck to be singing your heart out to a room that just doesn't care?"  He meant, of course, the audience in McDonalds.  But that stuck with me. Now I find I feel the same apprehension and sadness I felt that day.  I love the Bible and what it represents, and I have dedicated my career and life to it...

With the tragic shooting at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in South Carolina, we find ourselves once again facing the looming specter of violence, hatred, racism, and the place of the church in the world. I say once again, because we have been here before.  Every one of those issues keeps rearing its head.  I don’t always understand why – there are times when we seem to have moved forward from the issues of violence, hatred, and racism.  There are times when the church seems to be making great progress in making a difference in the world.  And then there are times where all of that is called into question. Several years ago, the Batman movie “The Dark Knight” hit theaters.  It had within it perhaps one of the finest portrayals of the Joker ever to have been seen.  Heath Ledger played the part amazingly well (worth watching just for his performance, by the way).   More to the point, though, he brought the character to life an...

I have returned from our Annual Conference with a strange feeling about the future of our conference and denomination.  That may just be a normal feeling after a week of reports, debates, and a lack of proper air-conditioning.  Hard to say. I will tell you this story. During one of the morning Bible studies/teaching moments/motivational speeches, a presenter was speaking about the book of Acts.  His comment was that Acts was the second volume of Luke, "who was a disciple." I had difficulty hearing much more for some time because what I kept hearing in my head was my own voice saying, "That's not true."  Luke was not  a disciple.  We know  this because in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke the author writes the following: "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it se...