The Cure by Athol Dickson

I love books that stir my soul, and challenge my thinking; stories with no easy answers, and that are difficult to put down make me smile. The Cure is that sort of book.

The story began with Riley Keep "returning to the scene of his disgrace in the back of a northbound pickup truck." Keep, a former pastor, missionary, teacher...and a homeless alcoholic--was taking his dying alcoholic friend, Brice, from Florida to his hometown Dublin, Maine. They had heard rumors by way of the homeless network of a cure for alcoholics.

Keep arrived in the town of Dublin which was overcrowded with homeless alcoholics looking for the cure they had heard about. Keep's long gray hair and beard rendered him unidentifiable to anyone who knew him seven years before when he left Dublin full of shame. He's happy to keep it that way while he looks for the cure of which he has heard. The crowds of people were certain the cure existed, and Riley crossed paths with some who said they had taken the cure and no longer wanted to drink.

Brice and Keep stayed at the local homeless shelter on the Saturday night they arrived. During the night, Brice managed to get a bottle of rubbing alcohol, drank it, and died. Keep was devastated, and on Sunday morning, he saw a bumper sticker that said "Jesus Loves You." He thought that if God really loved him, He'd do something to make him happy. So he asked God for something good to drink. Shortly afterward he found a brown paper bag in the park with "a complete quart of the finest single-malt Scotch whiskey."

After a few swallows, Keep headed to church believing he should thank God for the "gift." When the offering plate came around, however, he tried to filch money out of it. He ended up with an envelope containing a small amount of white powder, and a piece of paper with a note, and a chemical equation written on it.

Riley's journey has a lot of twists, turns, and hair raising moments. Dickson says of his stories, "I write novels. The genre is hard to describe. Some people think of them as 'suspense' or 'mystery' but they also have a strong sense of 'magical realism' and spiritual themes." The Cure explores a number of the difficulties with which many believers struggle.

If you'd like to read more about Dickson, you can find him on FaceBook, and at these web sites: http://www.atholdickson.com/ and http://www.atholdickson.com/bio_reviews.html . The Marion County Public Library has a number of his books on the shelves.

Straight Up

At what point does God stop working with you to conform you to the image of Christ? To bring you healing? When a person is in a coma, how much of what is going on around them can they know? What is the capacity of the spirit of a person who is unconscious to the physical world? How far does God's mercy pursue us? How deep is the well of His grace from which he pours it out on His children? How do our choices affect our friends and families? These are some of the questions that Lisa Samson explores in her book, Straight Up.

The book meanders around the lives of cousins Georgia, a jazz musician, and Fairly, a creative interior designer. It is evident from the beginning of the story that God has a plan for both of these women, and they can't see what He has for them. Both are running away from genuine living and loving, and each has her drug of choice.

This is not a book with easy answers, but God's faithfulness is the scarlet thread that runs through the story of each of the people in the book. Samson's narrative moves from person to person, and weaves the story on the loom of God's purposes among the children of men. It doesn't have all of the answers, but Samson asks some good questions, and makes some interesting suggestions.

Straight Up by Lisa Samson; published by Waterbrook Press Copyright 2006

Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess

Enough

Contentment in an Age of Excess

by Will Samson

Beware: this book will make you think and evaluate. It may make you wonder how we got to the place of excess, and if there is a way out of this prison. Samson asks some hard questions about consumerism in America. Some of his answers are hard to hear. He touches on some sacred American cows, and, he manages to do all of this without a side serving of condemnation.

What does it mean to have enough? Samson points out that we live in a consumer culture. No matter which way you may turn, someone is trying to sell you something. They hope to convince you that, without it, you will not experience the abundant American life to which sales people will try to convince you that you are entitled.

In the book, Samson explores the results of a consumer culture. He points out the “lifestyle diseases,” and connects them with American consumerism: “We are not well physically and we are not well mentally. Our wealth, status, and privilege have not translated into a culture that is whole.” Samson suggests, among many other things, that we think about where we are investing our time, money, and resources. He asks us to study the Bible and see how our priorities align with God’s—to “re-imagine the way we live.”

Will Samson and his wife, Lisa, have done more than just evaluate and think. They left a comfortable suburban lifestyle in Baltimore, Maryland for a run-down neighborhood located in urban Lexington, Kentucky. Their goal is to move from consumption to being consumed with living out the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in practical, tangible ways.