Deus Misereatur

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman My rating: 5 of 5 stars A man-cold! Though I’m not likely to die any time soon, a man-cold is miserable. And into this misery I decided to add the 192-page paperback “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business”. Neil Postman, American educator, media theorist, and social critic, originally penned this broadside against entertainment media during the early Reagan years. Though it is dated at points, nevertheless, his criticisms and calculations still ring true. And it made my man-cold a bit more tolerable. Postman’s primary postulation is that we have entered a new era, the Age of Television. This is the eon where everything from education, political dialogue, religion, and information-transfer have all begun to succumb to entertainment. And televising means contextless communication without perplexity, without analysis, without dialogue and without engagement. As he...

When the Daltons Rode by Emmett Dalton My rating: 5 of 5 stars My wife and I stopped at the “Dalton Gang Hideout” in Meade, Kansas at the end of Fall 2019. After hearing the tales and touring the tunnel and house, we returned to the gift shop. And there was Emmett Dalton’s book, “When the Dalton’s Rode,” originally written in 1930 and republished in 2012. I thought to myself that this was an opportunity not to be passed by and purchased a copy. I was not disappointed! Apart from the Foreword by Kith Presland, the 313-page paperback was worth the time and enjoyable. Here is a piece of Oklahoma and Kansas history told by one who sat in the dusty saddle and traveled through the windblown prairies. It is a retailing, from the memory of one of the Dalton Gang, of history as it was recalled. Dalton does not glamorize “outlawry,” nor does he seem to bloat the episodes with balderdash. All in all, it is a volume worth diving into. It can be ready with pleasure by older and younger alike. I ...

Our Father Who art in heaven : we come to you trusting and rejoicing that you are our Father through Jesus Christ, and that you will answer us, as promised, with as much readiness as, and even more readiness than, our earthly parents. And we trust that we may expect from your almighty power all things necessary for body and soul. Hear us, Father, as we pray. Hallowed be thy name : Enable us rightly to know, reverence, magnify, and praise you in all your works, through which shine forth your power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth; and likewise to so order our whole life, in thought, word, and work, that your name may never be blasphemed, but honored and praised on our account. Thy kingdom come : Preserve and increase your Church, to include this congregation and these churches in the greater OKC area: Trinity Lutheran Church; University Lutheran; Christ Lutheran; and Cristo Rey Lutheran Church ; and so govern us by your Word and Spirit that we may submit ourselv...