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GIVING TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR’S

There is a news story in the most recent issue of National Review (NR) that caught my eye. I’m sure that many of you might have seen it yourselves if not there, then elsewhere. The headline on the NR article is: “Former Kentucky Clerk Ordered to Pay $260,000 in Legal Fees after Refusing to Issue Marriage License to Same-Sex Couples.” Kim Davis was the former County Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, and she was elected to be the clerk in...

MY ENTIRE LIFETIME IS JUST A MOMENT TO YOU

This post is NSFW and may be upsetting to some. A young woman lies dead on a road, her life taken from her without warning and without recourse. She looks young, perhaps twenty-something. I’ve seen people her age in similar circumstances. While working at a military hospital in Myrtle Beach, SC almost forty-six years ago, two women were rushed to our emergency room. A pair of dangerous men robbed a coin or stamp collector in Charleston, SC before killing him....

Epiphanies & Theophanies

EPIPHANIES AND THEOPHANIES

Friday, January 5, 2024, is Twelfth Night for Christmas, 2023. You have until then to send your true love twelve drummers drumming. Saturday, January 6th, is Epiphany. The day after (Sunday, January 7th) is when members of the Eastern Orthodox church celebrate Christmas. Immediately after this, you must take your Christmas tree to the curb if you expect the city to haul it away. In this post I’d like to discuss the term epiphany and the notion of epiphany. Also,...

New beginnings

NEW BEGINNINGS

New beginnings. New year. The month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, who is portrayed in mythology as person with two faces, one looking backward and one looking forward. By the time this year (any year) is over, most people are ready for a fresh start, a new beginning, a cleansing, a chance to move on and that is what this post is about. Starting anew My wife Deena and I are both educators, with more than...

“ROT IN HELL . . . MERRY CHRISTMAS”

With this benediction, GOP frontrunner for president Donald J. Trump (DJT) sent Yuletide blessings to his friends, his foes, or to no one in particular. On Christmas Day, these bitter words were included in a repetition of grievances whether real or imagined as posted on his Truth Social platform. I discussed his posting with my wife Deena and we wondered what people might have thought had we signed our Christmas cards this same way: “Have a Merry Christmas~Rot in Hell.”...

The first of May

THE FIRST OF MAY

A Christmas message.  One of the albums I like to play during the Christmas season is a DVD by Sarah Brightman1 called One Night in Eden.  It is not a Christmas album per se, but it has songs on it that complement the Holidays.  She covers many of the songs on the album with a personal arrangement.  One such song that was originally recorded by the Bee Gees is called “The First of May.” The refrain in the song has the words: “When I was smallAnd Christmas...

Seduction

SEDUCTION

si-‘dek-shen. 1. The art of seducing. 2. Something that seduces. Temptation. 3. Something that attracts or charms. (Merriam-Webster.) I remember when I first became aware of the artwork of Roy Lichtenstein. I was in graduate school at the time and there were a series of tee-shirts for sale in an off-campus bookstore. They were all in Lichtenstein’s style of pop images with amusing captions. For example, one tee-shirt with a cartoon portrait said “I’m not smart, but I can lift...

END OF THE YEAR WRAP

The year 2023 had a lot of ups and downs, surprises and opportunities for us. Deena and I got off to a running start only two weeks into the year when I was diagnosed with high grade bladder cancer (see below.) Several months later, I was classified with the Veterans Administration as being totally and permanently disabled based on several different issues, and one of the benefits of that classification allowed Deena the opportunity to finish graduate school, first at...

Of politicians and prophets

OF POLITICIANS AND PROPHETS

Excitement and anticipation are building among members of many evangelical churches at this very moment as never before.  Christians are eagerly awaiting the new year.  They are posting more than ever on social media, spreading good news. But what is it that they are so preoccupied about?  Is it the Second Coming of Jesus Christ or the second coming of Donald Trump?  Is it praise of the Blameless One, or praise of the one with ninety-one criminal indictments against him and counting?  Is it He...

Sparrows

SPARROWS

I have always loved sparrows. They may not be particularly impressive or interesting when you see a flock of them flying overhead or noisily chatting away on a pole or power line. But if you take time to watch just one of them closely, you’d be amazed. Sparrows are very intelligent and curious. Making certain noises will attract them because they want to see what it is that is making that interesting sound. If you put some bird seed in...

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