peterkazmaier

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Extraordinary Moments in Literature (EMIL). Viewing “The Light of the World” in Carolyn Weber’s Autobiographical SURPRISED BY OXFORD

Carolyn Weber’s book, SURPRISED BY OXFORD, is one of those books I read again and again. In my latest re-reading I was struck once more by a visit Caro and her friends paid to Keble College, Oxford to view William Holman Hunt’s painting entitled “The light of the world.” It’s a scene from Revelation, Chapter three, where Jesus stands at the door, knocking. One of Caro’s friends observes the…

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Extraordinary Moments in Literature (EMIL). Shasta and the Cat in C. S. Lewis' THE HORSE AND HIS BOY

Books, especially novels, have given me great delight. A scene from C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy stands out. If you have read the Narnia books and remember this one, then you recall that young Shasta, a girl Aravis, and two talking Narnian horses, drawn by a great longing, were escaping Calormen to go north to Narnia. In the great city of Tashbaan, Shasta was separated from the others. In…

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Peter and Kathy Kazmaier wish you and your family A Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

The year 2024 has brought both challenges and blessings. We had to adjust to the absence of Kathy’s mom after she passed away in September 2023. We miss mom very much. In November 2024 we reluctantly had to euthanize our beloved dog, Othello, after a long illness. On the blessings side, the whole Ontario Kazmaier clan traveled to Calgary to celebrate my mother’s 100th birthday. We have a game…

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Facing Judgement: Saul after His Meeting with the Medium at Endor

What would you do in King Saul's shoes?

“Judgement happens naturally; grace happens supernaturally.” — Tim Keller. The Disobedient Minister (1997). A few week ago, I listened to a fine sermon about Saul, at the tragic end of his life, when, in desperation, he sought out the medium at the town of Endor to call up the ghost of Samuel. Samuel chastised Saul for calling him up and told him that he and his sons would die in the upcoming…

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He saw and then he believed

A garden tomb I visited in 2020. Near one of the proposed locations of the crucifixion of Christ. Link I have known only one person in my life who has claimed to see a ghost. It was a woman and the interesting thing is that she disbelieved in the immortality of the soul before seeing the ghost and still disbelieves after having seen it. She thinks it was a hallucination. In other words, seeing…

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What are your favorite fantasy novels?

I am just re-reading (and listening) to A Memory of Light, the final book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. My favorite books are those that I can read, and delight in, again and again. So what are my favorite classic fantasy stories? Here is my current list: Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (and Brandon…

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Movie Prompt: First and Second Things

I’ve been thinking a good deal about Surprised by Oxford and Carolyn Drake’s disappointment at her abandonment by her father. I often see in movies the heart wrenching dilemma faced by a parent where a child is terrified by an event that just happened, be it illness, violence, or some other trauma. The parent, desperate to allay the child’s fear, looks the child in the eye and tells them, “I will…

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Surprised by the Movie SURPRISED BY OXFORD

If you loved Carolyn Weber's book, I think you'll love the movie.

Carolyn (Caro) Weber’s very personal memoir, Surprised by Oxford, is one of my favorite books. I have read it at least twice, I’ve discussed in the book club I attend, and I’ve given it to members of my family. Imagine my delight when I noted the book had been made into a movie (2023) and was available on Hoopla at my cottage area library. While eager to watch the movie, I did wondered if I would…

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Revisiting Mr. Sensible from C.S. Lewis' THE PILGRIM'S REGRESS

“I know a eugenist who promises to breed us a race of peons who will be psychologically incapable of playing me a trick like this Drudge.” — Mr. Sensible C. S. Lewis. The Pilgrim’s Regress. (1933) I keep a file of quotes that have impressed me, and recently I came across one I had collected a year ago on rereading C.S. Lewis’ The Pilgrim’s Regress “I know a eugenist who promises to breed us a…

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A Comment on Sara Flower Kjeldsen's Excellent Blog: READING AN ENTIRE BLOG BEFORE COMMENTING

Link to Sara Flower Kjeldsen’s blog: https://saraflower.ca/2023/02/05/reading-a-persons-entire-post-before-commenting/ Link to a cited reference in Sara’s blog: https://www.sciencealert.com/people-who-read-the-facebook-newsfeed-think-they-know-more-than-they-actually-do Introduction I wholeheartedly agree, that as a blog commenter, I ought first to thoroughly read and understand the thesis of…

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Some Personal Thoughts on Tim Keller's Exposition of Matthew Chapter 11

My Journey to Timothy Keller I realized during the waning months of the Covid-19 pandemic lock-downs, that I had lost  two significant Bible teachers who in the past had greatly influenced my thinking. Since I missed their teaching and influence very much, I prayed to find someone whose teaching could fill this void in my life. I came across Timothy Keller’s podcasts and they have gone a long…

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THE HALCYON DISLOCATION Has Just Listed on Hoopla

THE HALCYON DISLOCATION Has Just Listed on Hoopla

Hoopla Listing at the Leeds and Thousand Island Public Library If you’re interested in trying a new author, but don’t know if their writing is consistent with your taste, why not try a book from a library? The Halcyon Dislocation, the first book in The Halcyon Cycle, a Science Fiction story that reads like Fantasy, has just been listed by Hoopla, a major library lending service. Here is the…

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2021 Christmas Greetings

Because of travel plans over the holidays, we decided to hold an early family Christmas celebration. As I thought about the good-natured banter, laughter and quips among the four generations present, it led me to think how much our world has changed over those generations, and how hard we have to work to get past the presuppositions that come from our histories.   The years 2021, 1992, 1963, and…

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Becoming a Truth-Seeker in an Age of Propaganda

Becoming a Truth-Seeker in an Age of Propaganda

My well-used copy of THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH In C. S. Lewis’ novel THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH, published in 1945, he foresaw the age of propaganda. An unobtrusive organization, the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.), was engaged in implementing its program of  eliminating undesirables. Although not well-known to the public, the N.I.C.E. controlled parliament. It didn’t really…

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My Review of Marie C. Keiser's HEAVEN'S HUNTER

My Review of Marie C. Keiser’s HEAVEN’S HUNTER

Heaven’s Hunter by Marie C. KeiserMy rating: 5 of 5 starsRandall Yung is the scion of one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the galaxy. He’s been trying to escape their manipulations for a long time. There are only two people he really cares about. One is Alicia, a young Catholic woman, who disappeared the day after she had accepted his marriage proposal. His other friend,…

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Review of Bowen Greenwood's Science Fiction Love Story ONSLAUGHT

Review of Bowen Greenwood’s Science Fiction Love Story ONSLAUGHT

Langston Wheeler is a member of the Brotherhood of the Gentle Hand. That is to say he is a telepath with extraordinary powers that has pledged to use these powers only for good and in service to others and never to aggrandize power. On being sent to the planet Felicitas to investigate a rogue telepath, he meets the beautiful, courageous, and brilliant Tia Dynn. As a Gentle Hand, Wheeler is only…

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2021 Canadian Federal Election - Part 4: Remaining Key Points

2021 Canadian Federal Election – Part 4: Remaining Key Points

On September 3rd, the National Post published a table from a Leger poll which indicated the issues identified by Canadian voters as most and least important to them. The largest number of respondents (13.5%) chose “cost of living’ while the fewest respondents (2.2%) chose immigration. All of these numbers are low and there is little consensus on what the major issues are. Given the many closed…