The uncertainties of life would drive a sane person mad if they obsessed about it. We tend to tuck the doubts and fears in a back corner of our minds so we can have (as my Appalachian kindred would say) “walking around sense”.
Continue reading “Certainty of God”Balance
Over the years I have tried to apply balance to my life and encourage it in others. I have found that those who like to view themselves as radicals do not like the concept of balance. Balance sounds like compromise to the radical. I try to be very choosy on which mountains I am willing to die on; molehills are not mountains.
Continue reading “Balance”Where to Go at the End of the Road
If I’m travelling on the road and dog tired, the “Vacancy” sign in the motel window promises a hot shower and a bed with clean sheets. On the interstate to somewhere the “Cracker Barrel sign in two miles” puts hope in my stomach and cheers me on to the next exit. But what about rest for my soul?
Continue reading “Where to Go at the End of the Road”Work With Your Own Hands
I was raised in a working-class family who had risen out of Depression Era poverty. Most of our neighbors were either poor or slowly rising to middle-class status. Our exposure to rich people was rare.
Continue reading “Work With Your Own Hands”Some “Speckulation”
Do you have a speck in your eye? My eye is feeling a little scratchy! Jesus talked about people having specks and planks in their eyes. These specks and planks can cause a lot of “speckulation” about other people.
Continue reading “Some “Speckulation””Don’t Let Them Divide Us!
I remember watching action-hero cartoons as a child and the general theme would be a bad guy wanting control over the world and a super-hero good guy would save the day. The same plot repeated itself in every show; the bad guy almost prevailed but in the end the good guy saves the world. What works in the fantasy world does not always play out in the real world. Most of us are apprehensive about the future.
Continue reading “Don’t Let Them Divide Us!”Contentment, the Elusive Earthly Dream
If you have ever cared for children, you realize how short their attention span and how elusive their contentment. If you have ever supervised or worked with adults, you realize how very few children grow up. Why are people discontented? That’s a million dollar question that can be answered with a nickel answer. Selfish pursuit of an evaporating cloud!
Continue reading “Contentment, the Elusive Earthly Dream”I’m Listening!!
America was once the poster child of free thought and free speech. It seems that the greatest proponents of free speech in our history were those in government, academia, and the press. In recent years they appear to be increasingly the ones who want to silence those who disagree with them. People want to fortify their own narratives than to formulate real solutions. At least that’s my observation.
Continue reading “I’m Listening!!”Don’t Complicate Ice Cream or Life
Baskin-Robbins has 31 different flavors of ice cream; three will do. I have read that there are over a thousand different flavors of ice cream. A good question might be, “Why do we have to complicate things?” In the early years of my childhood, I thought that vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry were the only flavors on the planet, and I was good with that.
Continue reading “Don’t Complicate Ice Cream or Life”Is Equality a Myth?
A friend once asked me why as a Christian, I was against gambling. I told him that the Bible did not directly address gambling as, “Thou shalt not gamble.” My answer was one he did not expect. I referred to the words of Jesus as found in Matthew 22:39 (NKJV), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In gambling, my neighbor must lose for me to gain; am I being Christlike if I want my neighbor to lose money for me to gain money?
Continue reading “Is Equality a Myth?”
