Copy
less IS more
 
from Ken Kuhlken, author of:
 
LET'S HELP SAVE THE WRITERS' CONFERENCE  IN HEAVEN
 
This appeared last issue, but I will repeat, because it's time-sensitive and of great importance.

For several years, I attended and taught at the annual Mount Hermon Christian Writers' Conference and found it not only my favorite conference, secular or Christian, but arguably my favorite time of the year.

Then my Zoe got deeply into softball, so I started coaching her teams and let go of the annual week at Mount Hermon. 

Now that Zoe is starting college, I fervently looked forward to attending the Mount Hermon conference again. But not long after I inquired and got put on a mailing list for interested people, I was notified that not only had the administrators decided to cancel the 2021 conference, but they meant to cancel the conference for all time.

Which nearly broke my heart. Here and now in semi-quarantine, I often dream of going special places, and of all the special places, Mount Hermon is hard or maybe impossible to beat. Though it's located only a few miles outside Santa Cruz, CA, a magical town with legendary golf, mystical beaches, and a historic amusement park, I never felt the desire to leave the conference center and go there, because the center is so heavenly. Imagine walking trails through redwood forests, worshipping in an outdoor pavilion that features a grand pipe organ, and feeling the soft daily breeze off the Pacific. 

I felt beaten down by the news until I got word that an agent, Steve Laube, has arranged for a Kickstarter campaign to bring back the 2021 Mount Hermon Christian Writer's Conference.

Please go here to read more about the proposed conference and the rewards for helping out. If I weren't so beholden to banks, I would certainly choose the package that would give me a private room (as I am an introvert and a restless sleeper), excellent food, and the registration fee, so I wouldn't even have to teach but could simply hang out, stroll the redwood trails, talk to good smart people, sing hymns, and attend sessions I could learn from. I mean, having been a writer for slightly less than a million years, I still have plenty to learn. 

I hope to see you there next spring. 

Meantime, anyone who strives to write valuable stuff, or to practice any art, or just to live better, should go on their phone (or tablet or computer) and proceed to Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts and search for Writing and the Spirit. If you subscribe, you will make my week.

Thanks, Bart.

The latest episode, entitled "Weirder and Weirder" is all about freedom, a mighty controversial and timely topic.
STUPID
 
Back before stupid became omnipresent, while driving I might tune in to a radio talk show. But I never lasted long, because I am not quite stupid enough to patiently endure the self-assurance of people who consider their answers original though they are common drivel.  
 
I haven't listened to a talk show in years but now and then I get lured to twitter, usually by a Jim Gaffigan clip. Then sometimes a political tweet seduces me into clicking and I land in a place where the Red Queen runs around screaming "Off with your head!" and boys from Lord of the Flies circle the island shrieking about the Beast, and Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now rhapsodizes about the smell of napalm in the mornings, and opposing mobs stand with hands on hips screaming at each other "We're cooler than you are." Then the shooting starts and I click my way to silence. 
 
One of the wisest people ever, Soren Kierkegaard, wrote: “People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” He wrote that over a hundred years ago, and should he tune in from another dimension, I imagine he weeps on account of being so right, and so prescient. 
 
When I attended college, a good number of fellow students were thinkers. Not competent thinkers yet, but they tried. Maybe I was already demented, but it seemed that only about half of the students were there simply to get degrees that would help them make money. Now, I suspect, it's hard to find a college student more intrigued by wisdom than by financial prospects. The fact that many who may read this will respond by rationalizing, "Well, of course. After all we need to make a living," I contend proves my point. 

It is also why I love Perelandra College.
 
The Bible points out that we cannot love both God and money. I will claim that, similarly, we cannot love both wisdom and money. We take our pick. 
PRISONERS
 
The Perelandra College project for the incarcerated, which delivers self-study writing classes, has run out of money for postage, printing and texts. We still regularly send Story Writing classes. But about a dozen people have requested our Grammar class, and the texts for that one cost us about $16 wholesale.
 
In other words, we are short a couple hundred dollars. Any help would be appreciated.

Here's a wild idea: how about splitting your tithes between your home church and Perelandra College (which is a church, as stated right on our corporate status, so God might even approve), or, dare I suggest that less money to a political candidate might mean nothing worse than fewer television ads. Or how about cooking at home one night instead of supporting your local diner, or asking your kid if she really needs Baskin Robbins or if she would rather that a prisoner learns the difference between affect and effect or who and whom. If he or she cries, go ahead and get the ice cream.
By the way, please help readers discover less is more by forwarding to your friends (see the Forward link in the little circle below) so they can SUBSCRIBE. Or if this was forwarded to you or you stumbled upon it, then here's your opportunity to SUBSCRIBE.
Onward,

Ken
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Copyright © 2017, Perelandra College,, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
8697-C La Mesa Boulevard, La Mesa, CA 91942

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list
 






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Perelandra College · 8697-C La Mesa Blvd. · PMB 21 · La Mesa, CA 91942 · USA

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp