The great evangelist Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of the President of Venezuela. He tops that a short time later by saying the debilitating stroke Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered was God's vengeance on Sharon for allowing Palestine to be free.
Never mind that Sharon was 77 years old, two tons overweight, and was belabored by extreme pressure as Prime Minister. God didn't want His promised land divided, and the fat boy had to pay.
Robertson recanted a short time later, but the cat litter was already out of the bag.
Now New Orleans Mayor and TV celebrity Ray Nagin is getting into the act. He celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday by announcing that God wants New Orleans to be "chocolate" again. After being challenged, he squirmed around with various definitions of "chocolate", none of which got him off the hook.
Now HE has apologized. Said Nagin, " I need to be more sensitive and more aware of what I'm saying."
Really? Why start now? With the sad state of situation-comedy TV, we need you, Ray.
You, too, Pat. Don't stop while you're on a roll.
Come to think of it, we have a few "possible" curses here in Royston. Since Pat and Ray seem to have keener insight on the divine than the rest of us, maybe we need them here to tell us whether our "curses" are man-made or the divine will of God.
First, there is the "alien" curse. Those not born here or anointed by longevity and/or special dispensation will recognize it immediately. It is a subtle curse which non-aliens either fail to recognize or deny its existence. Aliens are patronized, marginalized, or ignored, depending on the circumstances.
Those who remain long enough or who pay proper homage "may" be inducted into the family. Others do not try, aspire, or waste the effort. The "alien" curse can become the graveyard to ambition for change.
Next is the curse of "habit." The battle cry of the "habit" curse is, "we've always done it that way." Never mind that the world has changed, the needs have changed, and a few of us would like to change with it. The "habit" curse can condemn us to the eternal ditch of a medieval comfort zone.
Last, but by no means least, is the curse of "procrastination". Any decision that can be made today can just as well be put off til next month. The symbols of the procrastination curse are the "table" and the "round tuit."
Decisions are sometimes difficult, and occasionally we might make a mistake or upset someone. Let's "table" it for now. Eventually we may get a "round tuit". Maybe the problem will just die on the vine, or something of more current interest may come up. We can table that, too.
It is a big table.
So tell us, Pat. Prophesy, Ray!! What about our "curses"? Man made or God's will?
Pat? Ray? Where are you when we need you?
God help us!