A Higher Call: A Story of Hope

On December 20, 1943, Charlie Brown’s B-17 Flying Fortress was on a bombing run over Germany when it sustained heavy damage. It was limping its way out of Germany when it encountered a Messerschmitt BF-107. Despite the damage done to German cities by United States bombing, the Messerschmitt did not fire on the wounded plane. A Higher Call by Adam Makos tells the story of the pilots and the planes. It is more than just a war story. It is the story of grace and mercy. It is the story of respect between enemies. It is the story of the survival of the spirit during a long war. It is the story of hope

Tripping Over the Technology Divide

Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury is famous for shunning technology. He maintains that modern technology has taken the human element out of our society. He doesn’t own a computer or a cell phone, has never driven a car or used an ATM. The central idea of a lot of Bradbury’s writing is the conflict between humanity and technology. And if you think about it, modern technological devices weaken our human connections and eliminate the simplest of simple courtesies. Technology can keep people and God at a distance. The constant music or cell phone interruption filters other thoughts out, and it filters out the voice of God

Be Still…

“Be still and know that I am God.” I thought of that simple command, be still, recently. I quickly realized that not too many people are still these days. Go, go, go, go seems to be the way people live.By moving with the world, we are neglecting the command to “Be still and know that I am God.” When we move at our own hectic pace, we have little time for knowing God. Knowing God takes time and reflection

Stories Can Have Sharp Corners: A Review of Blood Done Sign My Name

Book review - Blood Done Sign My Name is Dr. Timothy Tyson's examination of the racial conflict and riots in Oxford, North Carolina during 1970. The tensions of racial conflict and desegregation in 1970 Oxford were the same that were being felt throughout North Carolina and the rest of the nation

Blood Done Sign My Name.

“Stories can have sharp edges,” states Tim Tyson in the Author’s Notes of Blood Done Sign My Name. Thirty years after hearing a 10 year old playmate tell him that his father and brother beat and killed Henry Marrow in public, Tyson examines the racial conflict and riots of Oxford, NC in 1970 and the culture that allowed such an event to take place and that allowed Robert and Roger Teel to be acquitted of both murder and manslaughter charges. The tensions of racial conflict and desegregation in Oxford were the same as those being felt throughout North Carolina and the rest of the South. Blood Done Sign My Name explores the motivation behind Marrow’s death and the riots afterwards

The World through Easter Glasses

Christians may need to view the world through Easter Glasses, a time when there is a need to view the world through the eyes of the risen Christ and that is threatening. Life and experiences condition us as to how we view the world. Our religious beliefs are part of that life and experience. We get used to seeing things a certain way, and we continue to see them in a certain way. Of course, that way of viewing the world gets old and out-of-date. We fall into the practice of seeing the world in only one way— even as Christians. Lent is the season of adjustment as we examine the way we view the world. It is the season of preparation for the Easter event, preparing us to view the world in a new way

Getting Ready for Advent

I have, mainly because the new church year begins on the first Sunday in December. In certain ways I prefer the Advent celebration to the New Year’s festivities. Advent, to me, is quiet. There are no big parties, no loud celebrations. Advent arrives with the words “watch” and “be ready.” If there are any Advent celebrations, they are done in moderation because that is the only way we can watch and be alert. Most New Year’s celebrations are about surviving to the end of another year. They are about forgetting the past.Advent is a about expectation. Watch. Be ready. Be alert. We hear these words with hope as the New Year begins. We look forward, not back. The resolutions we make are for the future to make ourselves and our lives better in the future

Life Outside the Box

We live in a box. We get up in the morning in the box we live in. We walk a few feet to our car which is a box on wheel, to go to the box where we work. In the evening we repeat the process.We hear as Christians about not putting God in a box, but rarely do we hear about putting ourselves in a box. We box ourselves in with thoughts: “What would So-and-So think?” or “I have never done anything like that and I won’t start now.” or “That is just not me; I am too scared to do that; I have duties and responsibilities.” All of those are perfectly valid excuses to stay in our boxes.Then something happens to the walls of the box. A crack opens, something new enters the box. It may be a sound, a new light, a new idea. Maybe it is a couple of simple words like, “Come on. Walk with me.

Friends of the Library to Sponsor Author Appearances

During the fall semester 2010, the Friends of the Library of UNC Pembroke sponsored two programs at the Mary Livermore Library. The programs featured two North Carolina authors: Bruce Roberts and Richard Folsom. There were also two UNCP Faculty Showcases featuring Dr. Stan Knick, Dr. Martin Slann, Dr. John Labadie, Margie Labadie, Dr. Rick Crandall, Dr. John Parnell, and Dr. John Spillan, who discussed their most recent scholarship endeavors (books, presentations, etc.)

Jonathan Williams: The Lord of Orchards

The book is a festschrift, honoring the work and spirit of Williams. Divided into four sections, “Remembering,” “Responding,” “Reviewing,” and “Recollecting,” the book remembered and discussed Williams’s contribution to poetry, photography and culture. There are also photographs of Williams, his friends and various scenes. The entries are written by friends, colleagues, and artists Williams assisted and influenced. These entries paint a picture of Williams like he described the Lord of the Orchards in a one of his poems, “The Lord of Orchards/selects his fruit/in the Firmament’s/breast.” Williams selected the best from artists he searched out and encountered