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Catskill Mountains

MOUNTAIN SOUNDS

Those of you who have read my biography know that I am a child of the Catskills, though I spent forty of the last forty-two years in Texas. Now, there are many commendable things about Texas, though with few exceptions, it cannot compete with upstate New York in terms of vistas and the diversity and sheer numbers of living creatures. The mountain sounds which their abundance of life are music to one’s ears. The land in most of Texas (excluding the Hill...

Dirty shirt and jeans on floor

86 YOUR TIRED THREADS

During the period of Prohibition in the United States, the merchandising of alcohol was prohibited.  As a result, private and secret clubs called “Speakeasys” emerged. One such Speakeasy was located at 86 Bedford Street in Manhattan.  It was typical of these clubs back then to have one or more police officers in their hire, who would tip them off when a raid from the Vice Division was about to be launched.  At that point, the bartenders would quickly and loudly inform...

Dried-up well

DRIED-UP WELLS

One of the most precious commodities through the ages has been clean, pure water. Wars have been fought over water throughout recorded time, until even today. In the U.S. during the “Old West” period, there were occasions of conflict over water rights for cattle and in modern times, states such as Texas and Oklahoma and countries such as the Sudan and Egypt have faced off likewise over the commodity known as water. Water is one of the prerequisites not only...

Troubled young man torn

A PSALM FOR HURTING HEARTS AND BROKEN SPIRITS

A few mornings ago, I read Psalm 136 as part of my early devotions. There are twenty-six verses in the psalm, and each verse ends with the words “His love endures forever.” Over and over (twenty-six times), David reminds us of God’s love. Imagine the objet d’affection in your life–your spouse, child or parent telling you over and over (twenty-six times a day) that they love you! Would you ever get tired of hearing it? Could you ever doubt it?...

Catskill Mountains

OF THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE

This is not the view from my front door, but it’s close. However, what you actually see depends on the time of day and the atmospherics, because sometimes you see rows of mountains as in this photo, and some times you see nothing at all except a fairly flat horizon bordered on the upper margin by clouds or fog (most recently, smoke from the wildfires in California, 3,000 miles away.) But regardless of whether the mountains are visible or whether...

Near term fetus

IF WE’RE GOING TO CALL OURSELVES PRO-LIFE, SHOULDN’T . . .

First of all, I’m as pro-life as anyone who claims that label (and I hope that any ladies who read this will not be dissuaded from continuing with my essay.) After all, there was a time when I was a fetus, myself, as was Tim Tebow and as was Andrea Bocelli. I could cite certain passages from Scripture which we all know, plus Barnabas, Cyprian, Tertullian, Augustine, Martin Luther, et. al, but fundamentally, and regardless of that cloud of witnesses,...

Cooling off from the heat

BACK TO THE FUTURE

  • July 11, 2021
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  • News

There was a time centuries ago when large areas of California were hot, parched for lack of water, with few ways for indigenous peoples and Spanish settlers to cool off. But back then, temperatures of 110 degrees F. may very well have been rare. Not anymore. The children in the featured photo are trying to stay comfortable during a heat wave. But take away the water from the fountain given the current California drought. Then, shut down the air conditioning...

Bear in my driveway

AND SPEAKING OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS…

In my essay from earlier this week (Are we alone in the universe?), I speak of close encounters of the first kind (“visual sighting of an unidentified flying object seemingly less than 500 feet away”); close encounters of the second kind (“a physical effect, such as electronic interference…”), etc. This incident on my driveway would be called a close encounter of the seventh kind (“lovestruck bear looking for mate crashes Fourth of July barbecue in the Catskills”) I call the...

Second coming of the Bronco and Jesus

SECOND COMINGS

The second coming of the Bronco and the second coming of Jesus. A week or two ago as my wife and I were planning our move to a mountain house where we’d live for the next twelve months, she casually mentioned to me that it would be nice—and fun—to have a Jeep or four-wheel drive OTR/GOAT vehicle (in case I wind up in the ditch again, if not in traction.)  But she was actually thinking about the snow we’d encounter next...

Sin, like a strangler fig, can choke the life out of a host

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT SIN

[Sometimes, I believe I have valuable insight on sin and how the Devil can trip you up. Other times, I think I’ve learned absolutely nothing about sin at all.] The world in which we live is not the world that God created for us. Unless we’re at a tropical resort on a sandy beach, in the mountains, or at some other breath-taking destination, few of us would call our world a paradise. Forces of nature and the destructiveness of people...

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