I bet the title of this post grabbed your attention.

 

I just finished reading a new book. Michael Leahy’s book Porn Nation is hands down the single-most compelling book I have ever read. Ever.

 

This is high praise I know and puts me out there a bit but it’s true. The book is a heart-breaking, painful chronicle of Leahy’s porn & sex addiction from childhood through to the ultimate breakup of his marriage and family.

 

Leahy is ruthlessly honest about himself and the destructive nature of pornography. Another powerful aspect of this book is that as he weaves his story of growing addiction Leahy is also telling the story of pornography’s explosive growth through technological advancement into western culture and psyche.

 

Leahy’s ex-wife gave him permission to publish excerpts from her journal which provide the reader with a more complete perspective on the nature of the addiction. Her heart-wrenching pleas for renewal in their relationship as well as her temptation to blame herself are very insightful.

 

Leahy has written a book that is personal testimony, cultural observation, and a guide back to health and wholeness for those enslaved by pornography. I highly recommend this book to both men and women (especially men); to book clubs, couselors, teachers, pastors, parents and of course anyone who may be struggling with an addiction to sex & pornography.

 

Leahy is the Executive Director of Bravehearts (www.bravehearts.com), an organization dedicated to raising public awareness about the impact of pornography. He will be speaking in Winnipeg in January and you can pretty much guarantee I will be there with whoever wants to go.

 

   

 

Check out this totally ridiculous, amazing technology donation our church youth group got! As a former tech-industry guy and all around tech junkie I have to admit that getting an Atari Mega ST2 with all the trimmings was like opening a geek time capsule. It’s easily more than 20 years old and still in original boxes and packing material with invoices. It also came with a speedy 1200 Baud modem (not shown)! It is shown wiith a massive 60 MB external harddrive (and for the time this would have been absolutely huge) the Atari Megafile 60 (not to be confused with a character from Transformers).

 

I can actually remember when this setup would have been awe-inspiring. It also came with loads of old floppies. I think I will set it up and let the youth explore.

 

If you are reading this on Facebook you have to come to my blog to see the pics: http://poet.spaces.live.com

 

Here’s a link to a small article about the system on the website Binary Dinosaurs:  http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Atari/megast2.php

 

 

 

I was just watching The Daily Show this evening (work avoidance technique) and Jon Stewart interviewed author Matt Taibbi who recently published a book entitled – The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire. This was one funny interview and the book sounds like a pretty hilarious, satirical read. The basic premise of the book according to Taibbi is that as Americans increasingly become disillusioned with politics and the establishment they have drifted into all sorts of fringe groups…essentially Taibbi says America is slipping into insanity.

 

 

 

My Lord is coming to visit today

How do I know?

 

I sent a message aloft

asking Creator to speak to me

This is how I know

 

My Lord is going to heal today

How do I know?

 

Sickness came to visit

and my hands became His

This is how I know

 

My Lord is going to love today

How do I know?

 

I looked out my window

 

and I saw pain

and I saw loneliness

and I saw need

and I saw hurt

and I saw anger

and I saw hunger

and I saw hatred

and I saw lust

and I saw war

and I saw death

and I saw you

and I saw me

 

and they all reached out

inviting and waving away

This is how I know

 

Moses went walking with God

stroll’en to Nebo’s top

to look upon the plains of bounty

feast your eyes

                      and turn away

this place is not for you

your feet will never touch

stones filled with promise

your eyes will never see

lush and soft

your tongue will never taste

covenant wine

 

your tears and bones

stay where they are

dry, dry, dry

 

as You will

as it should have been

but never was

 

may it be now

It’s just me and the kids. I figure it’s a good time to teach the Bible in very practical ways. For instance the kids can learn about John the Baptist by scavenging for their own meals of locust and wild honey (or reasonable facsimiles thereof). Baths could be had through attempts to walk across the pool which will also teach the importance of faith. Clothes? As God dresses the lilies (or perhaps a lesson on life in Eden before the Fall)…etc. You get the idea. Feel free to post your own suggestions.

Anyhow – lots of ideas. Should be a blast assuming there isn’t mutiny.

Do you remember George Michael? Do you remember WHAM? No – of course you don’t because the last time George Michael toured in North America was more than 17 years ago (and don’t even ask about WHAM). If you do remember them then you are probably part of a select demogrpahic (like me) that used to head to the clubs and dance to their music.

Anyhow – George Michael sang on the American Idol finale tonight (yes I watched it, I’m a proud culturephile) and he sang what I think is a REALLy good song (for an old guy)…some pretty powerful lyrics. The song is entitled Praying for Time…here are the lyrics – you decide:

These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosersThis is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we’ll take our chances
Because god’s stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all god’s children
Crept out the back door

And it’s hard to love, there’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it’s much too late
Well maybe we should all be praying for time

These are the days of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here

So you scream from behind your door
Say “what’s mine is mine and not yours”
I may have too much but i’ll take my chances
Because god’s stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you

That he can’t come back
Beacuse he has no children to come back for

It’s hard to love there’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it’s much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time

 

Here are the lyrics to that song I have become a hyper-fan of – The Call by Regina Spektor. I am actually doing some pretty intense cyber-stalking of Spektor right now. She’s quite the intriguing individual (I think I will like her music). Born in 1980 in Moscow, Russia she now lives in New York. She wrote The Call specifically for Prince Caspian. Check out the Wikipedia article about her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Spektor. Her song Samson is as good or better then The Call…she’s quite the song writer.

 

 

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
‘Til it was a battle cry
I’ll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything’s changing
Doesn’t mean it’s never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You’ll come back when it’s over
No need to say goodbye

You’ll come back when it’s over
No need to say goodbye

Now we’re back to the beginning
It’s just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can’t feel it too
Doesn’t mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
‘Til they’re before your eyes
You’ll cone back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

You’ll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

 

Had a great time tonight…we took the youth to Winnipeg to see Price Caspian at Silver City. There’s nothing like a bus filled with 44 people to keep things lively! The evening went pretty much perfect and to top it off the movie was pretty awesome. Everybody had a blast.

 

The end credits of the movie started with a fantastic song by Regina Spektor entitled – The Call….really, really good! The credits also feature a song by Switchfoot.

 

I arrived home this afternoon from work to find a postcard waiting for me from Vatican City. Sweeet. My sister was visiting Italy and went to Vatican City where she purchased and mailed a postcard. See the pics below. (For those of you reading this on Facebook you won’t see the pics because they don’t get imported – you’ll have to visit my blog – http://poet.spaces.live.com).