Christina Engela

There are many different forms of family and there is in fact NO 'the' family.The basic building block of any close relationship - and thus any family - is LOVE.

If you don't follow Christ or love others in the way Christ said, and let yourself be bogged down instead with fearfulness, hatred, violence and the persecution of others - HOW can you call yourself a 'Christian'?

It is no coincidence that Christian fundamentalist movements worldwide seek a return to Old Testament laws - because they fundamentally reject Christ as the New Covenant - which replaced all that.They are not Christians - they are Leviticans.

The hatred the 'Christian' right wing harbors for the SA Constitution is not htere because of an absence of 'God' in state machinery and the excised phrase 'in humble submission to almighty God' - but because it no longer places THEM in a position to claim that THEY represent the will of that 'God' and to act as though it were true.

Slavery of the heart, oh Love - a prisoner of will thou art - proof that love, while blissful, can oft also be Hell. Demonstrative definition thou art, that love can be strategic as well!

How do YOU know what God meant? Did he whisper into your ear? Did he put the knife in your heart? Did he put a gun in your hand?

Some children are threatened with loss of privileges such as money, cell phones, cars or even eviction from home if they do not 'toe-the-line' and 'act straight'. I don't think parents who do such things consider for a moment the kind of emotional damage they are doing to their children - or thinking beyond their own feelings about the situation - which will not change or go away simply because of their denial.

Money is not respect. Neither is power. And if people respect you for your money or your power, it isn't you they respect - but the money or the power.When you win people over who hate you for what you are or what you believe, and they still come to you to make friends - or to ask you for counsel or assistance - that is respect - and that respect is power.

Apparently some rustlers had been swiping red-horned wildebeest from farms in the San Fedora area and transporting them off-world to other colonies where they would sell them. And these were known repeat offenders. He could make a packet if he got the whole bunch of them the same time. The pickings were kind of slim in Atro City lately and he could use the money. He didn__ like feeling like a leech around Cindy-Mei.

My ship _ the Demeter, was a star-liner operated by the Red Star Line. I say __as_ because of the events you will read about in this account. This is a long letter, I know, but I had quite a long time to write it. You probably already know this, having seen the commercials running on all the major channels for the last twenty years or so, but the Red Star Line is the largest cruise operator in the known universe. Unless something has changed between now and by the time you read this, this is probably still true. In fact, customers of the Red Star Line get more quality, value for money _ and smiles by Demeter than they do anywhere else. Okay, okay. It__ an old joke _ corny for sure, but what the hell.

Timaset didn__ need a ship _ especially not a flying museum piece! And as far as he knew, a dodgy plasma injector could drop you smack into a wormhole ending somewhere on the other side of the universe with no way back. Well, he could always sell the damn thing. Couldn__ he? He could use the money. Damn, he could always use the money! Maybe the crew would want to buy it over from him?

Being captain of such a vessel was not a stressful job, despite the sheer size of the thing. Everything was automated, and this meant that this behemoth could be efficiently handled by a far less seasoned captain. Besides, hiring mature skippers with actual experience would cost real money. And hey, the computers ran everything anyway _ and that__ how Bran Johannsen enters this story _ as a fine young inexperienced graduate of the Merchant Space Academy in Mars City, who only got his Executive Officer__ ticket four short years ago.

Make sure you date someone who always makes you want to dance, with or without music.

Although a little noisy at first, in a bizarre twist of fate, electronic music became popular in France in the 1890__ before fizzling out in favor of Swing music _ which somehow made an early appearance in the 1900__. In another alternative timeline, the Beatles never existed and England invented popcorn and hamburgers in the 1840__. Damn, that__ what almost happened last time again, thought Scrooby tensely, while maneuvering himself onto a stronger looking branch. Details, everything was about the details. Sometimes there was almost too much detail to keep up with.

Now I don__ know how many people like to drive a Beetle at that kind of speed (on purpose) but I know I__ rather go down Brickmaker__ Kloof on a bicycle with no brakes! Driving any car at that speed in anything other than an expensive German luxury car on a long, straight autobahn is enough of a risk (let alone the risk of hitting anything) _ but if you try that with a Beetle and add a light crosswind, factor in some rubber peeling off your tire, and you__l more than likely find yourself dancing alone in a dark corner without any music.

The 'institution of marriage' is being threatened - by people getting married? Huh?

Wait-a-minute!Reality kicked in after marking its spot `position vacant_ for the short and pleasant while. He groaned mournfully as he found himself staring at the inside of his own eyelids. The first thing that occurred to him was the terrible bone-wracking pain running up and down his spine. Pain? No, curiously enough. It was the memory of it that seemed to hurt so much. Maybe that__ what scared him. Or maybe it was the creaking of the ship around him_

Knowing who you are is half the peace of accepting yourself.