Sex, Sushi and Salvation

Sex, Sushi and Salvation, Christian George, Moody Publishers, 2008

Many people want something more out of life than just the right sneakers or an ipod. For them, feelings of intimacy, community and eternity are much more important. Here is one person's attempt to find such things in daily life.

The author was part of a mission trip to Russia to set up a summer camp for local orphans. While he was there, he was propositioned by a Russian prostitute. He declined her offer, and she ran away in tears. She later told him that he was the first person to ever say no to her. In high school, he, along with several others in his class, was inconsiderate to a female classmate who was unprepared for a test. Two hours later, she was dead in an auto accident.

A young man from a rich family went on a pilgrimage to Rome. Tired of a life of partying, he took a lifelong vow of poverty. The family was not pleased, but he stuck with it, despite many attempts to bring him back to "reality". The young man became St. Francis of Assisi. God's creation is always better than man's creation; one day, the author was flying a radio controlled airplane. It was attacked by a hawk, and eventually crashed.

Everyone bows down to, or worships, something, whether it's God, music, fashion or the human intellect. Cathedrals, whether plain or gaudy, all point to the past. They encourage visitors to see God in all His glory.

This book is recommended for anyone, religious or not-so-religious, who is looking for a relationship with God. It does a good job of showing how faith can be found in the mundane things of everyday life.

Food for Beginners

Food for Beginners, Susan George, Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc, 1982

Ever wonder why over 800 million people, mostly in the Third World, live under the constant threat of famine, while in America crops are left to rot because the storage bins are full? This book gives the answers.

During the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-1800's, two million people died of starvation, but Ireland actually had twice as much food as was needed to feed its population. Irish peasants were told by the landlord that Paying Rent Comes First (even before feeding their children). The landlords sent the crops overseas and invested almost nothing in the land. The practice still goes on today all over the world (it's called "cash crops").

International aid programs simply push population control (and dump unsafe contraceptives) on the Third World, instead of changing the conditions that require them to have many children.

The US Senate has been told that the US health budget could be cut by about $70 billion if people simply improved their diets.

It's been said that for people who want to become politically active, but don't know where to start, food is the perfect place to start, because it touches everyone. Reading this book is an excellent place to begin that activism.