OPTION PRESS

OPTION PRESS is a private non profit tool for making the works of the author available to the reader. OPTION PRESS uses Create Space, Amazon and Kindle to distribute most of the works listed in the column on the left. A few of the books in the list are not presently available but will be avaable in the future.

Why are the books important?

The author's writing is unique in several ways:

1. He believes that we are composed of body, mind, and spirit. So his writings reflect that composition. He attempts to bring a unified human composition (body mind and spirit) into all of his writings.

2. He also believes that there are forces which are constantly at work in human history. By recognizing these forces and including them in his writings he is able to relate events of history in a way not usually related by many authors.

3. His writing also reflects the economic forces which so often control history. Most accounts of contemporary events ignore this element.

4.Because of these directions the author asks question others seem to ignore. Because his questions are unique his answers are also unique.

If you do not read his questions and answers you may miss the significance of contemporary events. More signicantly you will continue to ignore these vital questions in matters which concern your own life.  Happy and helpful Reading!

 PUBLICATIONS OF OPTION PRESS

Restoring the Common WEALTH is a novel. However, it is more fact than fiction. It ties together persons and events that are normally regarded as isolated events.The element which unites them is money and profit. It was originally published 20 years ago as The Disjointed Society. The novel proposes that we cannot really understand WHY events happen until we understand who makes money from the events which happen. It also looks at ongoing history, not simply isolated events.

The novel also looks at history through the eyes of a Native American. In the epilogue the Native American looks at some of the contemporary events which give us hope. A more detailed analysis of the novel is available at www.workforpeace.info

It was originally published as a novel The Disjointed Society. Later I wrote a factual book called Surrogate Wars. The book contained all the factual parts of the novel that I could document. One of its major emphases was that wars were often fought for economic reasons rather than the political reasons we were told caused the war. Many persons did not understand the subtlety of the title.

By early 2008 both the novel and Surrrogate Wars were out of print. I still had a copy of Surrogate Wars. I was at the Notre Dame University and met George Lopez of the Krok Institute. George told me “You really need to publish this book.” He even contacted some publishers and suggested a few additions to the book.

I republished the book. I gave it a new title Why We Are Always Broke: things we need to know about the economy. The book appeared at a time when many people were first experiencing the effects of the disintegrating economy. The book was far more successful than Surrogate Wars. In September, 2012 I retired from active ministry as a pastor. I became involved with some local poetry groups. One message I heard frequently was: “It is not enough to point out problems. We also need to offer solutions.” That inspired me to write another book: Must We Always Remain Broke?

As I was finishing this book I realized that I needed to rewrite my original novel. Since doing the novel about thirty years ago I have had much contact with Native Americans. I became aware of their history and how they lost the land due to greed and other economic factors. This novel is basically a repeat of The Disjointed Society with the addition of a new character Thomas Whitney, a Native American who looks at the events of current society in the light of Native American history. The character is modeled after Whitney Vilcan (cf. dedication) and his Father Thomas Vilcan from whom Whitney took much of his vision of reality.

The novel is in many ways autobiographical. It is not really fiction. It details with events and persons I have actually met or at least read about. Bob Stokely and Eloise James are both parts of me. Just after World War Two my father told me that we might be moving to Venezuela. He worked for Youngstown Sheet and Tube. They were opening a new plant in Venezuela. We did not move. I ended up studying for the priesthood, being ordained and spending over forty years in various ministries. I did not want to complicate the book by making Eloise James (the me that is) a Catholic priest so she is an Episcopal priest. Bob Stokely became a quite different person with a totally different focus than Eloise James. Still his daughter, Liz, is very much influenced by Eloise James and assumes many of her ideas.

Pope Victor 1 is Pope John Paul 1. There is a common sense that he was murdered because he intended to reform the Vatican Bank. Jean Pierre is John Kennedy. Pierre and Victor 1 served at different times. They never met. Still they shared many of the same hopes and dreams. Many in the novel are from different times. They reality they helped create goes beyond their own actual life times

 CREATE SPACE

The book can be purchased through Amazon, hit AMAZON

ECOFLECTIONS 

 Psalm 8 describes creation as the "work of his (God's) fingers." The vast world we view as so complex is really just a work done with a few fingers. There were no massive machines. There were grandiose architectural designs. The universe is just a work done with a few of God's fingers. It is like a picture painted by God or a fabric knitted by God.

Our universe is not something simply willed by God. It is something created by God using existing substances. One Old Testament image is God creating humans by knitting them in the womb of our mother.

The second creation account which appears in the book of Genesis says: "The Lord God created man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being."

God uses the clay from the earth to create humankind. But we are not simply that clay from the earth. In addition to our clay we are formed with the very breath of God. We are like God. We are also like the rest of creation formed out of the clay of the earth.

God gives us an admonition. We are to "cultivate and care for" his creation. It is God's creation not ours. The creation account also reveals how we fell from that privileged position in God's universe. Adam  (a word that simply means "man") was told to "cultivate and care for" the universe. He was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The description of the temptation which led to mankind's sin is interesting. When man (Adam) was tempted to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he was told: "The moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like the gods who know what is good and what is bad."

So, "original sin" - that sin which endures to this day - was not an act of disobedience to God. It was a sin of lacking faith. We do not believe that we are like God. We have to DO something (eat of the forbidden fruit) to become like God. Original sin is, first of all, a lack of faith in who we are. It is a failure to believe that everything (including us) is good. The creation account reveals that everything God created was good. It is only when we failed to believe that we and all of the universe is good that we see sin appearing in the universe.

Centuries before the truths were revealed to the sons and daughters of Abraham, Native American roamed our own land. They also understood these basic truths. I came to appreciate their insight and faith as I traveled the Natchez Trace Parkway.

ECOFLECTIONS is a series of poems which illustrate their faith, their insight. It also speaks of how "civilized" man came and destroyed that basic faith and insight.

The Introduction invites us to be at peace so we can comprehend the meaning of our own life. "Owens Creek" invites us to slow down so we can appreciate the rest of creation. "Loess Bluss" is a huge mound formed during the ice age. Even in the midst of widespread death, life can be created.

"Bear Creek Mound" reminds us that centuries before the Bible was written life and culture existed in our own land. "Rocky Springs Church" recalls how we abused the land. Because of that abuse people were forced to move. The church and its cemetery reminds of that exploitation.

"Emerald Mound" invites us to make a choice for peace, living in harmony with nature and enduring life rather than war, exploitation, violence and death. "Tower of Babel" details different ways that our hearts, thus our tongues can be confused. "Spider Web" describes a spider creating a marvelous home from resources within its own body. It invites us to make similar choices.

"Cave Spring" speaks of the abuse of our environment and its consequences: "The water is now unsafe to drink." "Mound" compares the simple mounds of the Native American with the glorious pyramids of the Egyptians. The way we view life is the way we will view resurrection.

"Respect For Life" invites us to respect life in whatever form we encounter it.

 "Common WEALTH" reminds us that Water, Earth, Air, Land, and sun are our common wealth. We need to cherish them and cultivate them, not exploit them.

ECOFLECTIONS may be purchased through Amazon or through Kindle

To obtain a copy through Amazon hit AMAZON

BIBLOBITS It is a series of obituaries of Old Testament characters. It was inspired when I substituted for a sixth grade religious education teacher. Part ot that day's lesson was an obituary for King David. I was not at all creative. It asked the student to fill in blanks giving David's place of birth, parents, and place of death. I though I can do better than that so I created a series of Old Testament biblical obituaries. It tried to give a little more of the significance of each life. Each one ends "In lieu of sending flowers you are asked..." The reader is asked to do something that reflects the life of the biblical person. The title can be taken as meaning little bits of the Bible or Bilical obituaries.

Copies of BIBLOBITS are available through Amazon Sumply hit AMAZON

 LETTERS FROM GOD In my own life I have come to see prayer as LISTENING to God rather than speaking to God. I have seen a lot of letters to God. They all seem to reflect a style more oriented to speaking to God. So I composed a series of letters in which God speaks to a human person who is troubled and to whom God speaks. The book is available through Amazon.   AMAZON

WHY WE ARE ALWAYS BROKE War and who profits from war is a central question in Why We Are Always Broke. The book looks at underlying institutions which promote wars. Who finances wars? Who profits from wars? A central thesis of the book is individuals and nations are controlled by keeping them in debt. War is a principal means of creating debt. The book looks at the national debt which has grown immensely in recent years. The debt is due in large part to war. Crumley shares his research on the United Nations, the Bank for International Settlements and NATO, and shows how these organizations have influenced global interactions. He writes how, after years of being manipulated, some nations in the Middle East are fighting back by implementing new economic systems.

The book looks at the radical economic reforms President Kennedy was implementing in the summer of 1963, prior to his assassination. JFK took steps to restore economic stability to the USA and cut our military, especially foreign military, expenses. Kennedy attempted to stop the flow of gold from the USA and to put control of our money back in the hands of government. No one looked at these economic forces in investigating his death. These reforms were the most radical and far reaching acts of his administration. They were abandoned immediately after his death.The book examines how war played a central role in creating the international monetary system in place today.

The book is available through the author. His email is

mailto:bcrumley1936@yahoo.com It is also available through Amazon. Just press Amazon It is also available through many other sources. Just go to Google or whatever source you use and type in "Why We are Always Broke."

ORDINARY PEOPLE TUNING IN ON NEEDS was written in response to a talk by Robert Shetterly. He had composed a book of pictures of people who told the truth. He was upset because he believed the Government was not telling the us the truth about what happened at 911. His response was to highlight persons throughout US history who have told the truth. After the book was published Mr. Shetterly continued taking pictures. He now has over 170 pictures. He is also going throught the USA telling his story.

As he spoke I thought "I do not take pictures, but I do write. I could compose a book just about persons I know who told the truth." The book is complete. It is available as a book you can print out on this website.     AMAZON



Thanks for taking the time to review the entire website. I would like to hear from you regarding your comments.

mailto:bcrumley078@gmail.com

Bill Crumley                                                                                  St.EdwardsUniversity      St. Joseph Hall                  AustinTexas 78704 

512-637-1970