The Weekly Reader

I have been reading several interesting books over the last few months. Will I ever finish all of them, I'm sure I will some day. Let's look at the list, shall we.

The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln by C.A. Tripp, is a remarkable book. Here we have a well-respected scientist and author doing exhaustive research and finishing the book just weeks before he dies at 83. The other remarkable thing about the book is that it was almost well-received by Lincoln scholars. The basic premise is that Lincoln was at his heart a homosexual. He lived the life expected of men of his time, but he also had love interests and affairs. This might explain the depth of his depression, even beyond all the sorrow he suffered during his life. To think that what you were was beyond the pale, and not having anywhere in literature or history to turn to to see yourself reflected, except perhaps in ancient times.

Mere Christianity is a book comprised of radio broadcasts made by C.S. Lewis during World War II. I have not gotten very far into it, but I am looking forward to his reasoned arguments for Christianity, and to seeing someone who went from being an agnostic to being an ardent Christian.

A Heckuva Job by Calvin Trillin is the latest in a series of poetry books based on the politics of GW Bush, our prez. Trillin skewers Bush on so many levels that it is almost sad. I know the TV pundits use Bush for fodder on a regular basis, and I guess it has gotten to the point where the fact that Bush is a dolt is a given. We will see this fall whether Americans really believe this deep in their hearts.

The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong chronicles the author's life from being a novitiate in a convent, to losing her religion, to finding it again. She is a remarkable woman and I never miss an opportunity to hear her speak on television. Lately her focus has been on explaining the world's three great religions, attempting to help us see how much we all have in common.

Finally there is Grief by Andrew Holleran. This is a novel about a man who has moved to DC after tending to his dying mother for many years. While he is there he is also reading the letters of Mary Todd Lincoln. She spent the last part of her life grieving, unable to find joy in anything. The protagonist in this novel is also having difficulty letting go of the grief he carries for his mother, and for all the friends he has lost to the great gay plague.

I have a mini-vacation coming up and I am hoping to finish all these books while I am off. I also have to finish book five of Harry Potter and the novel Wicked. I can't wait.

War Without End

It seems as though the middle-east has been in turmoil my entire life (actually it has). I often wonder if peace can ever be achieved there. I hope and pray that it can.

Just when we thought Iraq was a total mess, then we have to look to the rest of the region to see what a monumental mess the whole place is. And how much worse it can get.

How and when will it all end? This seems to be turning into a clash of cultures, much like the Crusades. But that was almost a thousand years ago, still we seem to fight on.

I used to think we could just send our troops in there, like the first Gulf War, but now I realize that won't do much good. Now I don't really know whose job it is to straighten that place out. Maybe let the Arab states figure it out, so that whole clash of cultures thing dies down.

We think we have all evolved, after all the wars we have seen throughout history. The war to end all wars, that was almost 100 years ago. Still mankind fights on. We fight over nationalism, religion, and other useless concepts. If people would only realize that we are all part of God's family, we are all together on this road of life, struggling to make it through. We need each other more than we know.

All we are saying...