Crosswinds Foundation

Okay, I admit it – I got sucked into Lost. A couple of years ago I watched a few episodes from the first season and got hooked. I went out and bought all the seasons on DVD and immersed myself in the storyline preparing for the new season that year. It didn’t matter that it didn’t make sense. It was terrific storytelling and we were told the writers had it all mapped out. In fact, it was so well mapped out, we were led to believe, that the season of the writer’s strike, they were upset that some of the plot development from that season would not get in, or would be rushed. This gave me comfort. So, I could live with my confusion. After all, I knew one day it would all fall into place – the writers had it all plotted out. One day all would be revealed and I would be able to say, “So, that’s why the polar bear was there; that’s where the smoke monster came from.” So, here I sit after the series finale – my hopes dashed. It turns out it was all a sham. There are no real answers; in fact, ...

It is not unusual for someone to ask me what I think are the biggest or most important shifts in faith-beliefs that have occurred in recent years. Answering this question usually leads to an interesting discussion about where we are as a society as regards religious, or “spiritual”, issues. Following is my “Top Ten” list for your consideration and discussion. 1. God doesn’t exist/isn’t real/is dead. 2. There are many gods, or perhaps one God who expresses himself, or itself in many different forms. 3. Many/all religions lead to eternal life, or to the same God – they just have different understandings of who, or what, God is. 4. All religions, basically, teach the same truths, perhaps, with a little variation. 5. The Bible is not God’s word but just another book. 6. Jesus was a great teacher or prophet, but he was not God in the flesh. 7. The universe and man came about through evolution. 8. When a person dies they come back again as another person, or thing, through reincarnation. 9. ...

Thursday May 6 marks one of the most controversial days in the history of our country. Doubtful our founding fathers would believe a National Day of Prayer could cause such division among us. Our first President George Washington pleaded with the colonists to pray for Congress as they established our Constitution. At that writing, Thomas Jefferson was instrumental yet some would say he actually began the argument by writing to a group of Baptists agreeing with them that a separation of civil government from concerns of religious doctrine and practice were important. Jefferson writes: "...I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." And the battle has raged ever since 1802. No one who reads the Federalist Papers, our Constitution, and ot...