On our way back to the car after leaving a store recently, my wife and I were chatting about some things we planned to do later. I was focused on what we were talking about and not paying much attention to people coming and going around me. Abruptly, my wife turned aside and walked away, as though whatever profound stuff I was saying didn’t matter as she Continue reading
I used to be a pretty good golfer. Well, okay… Let me clarify that. I was pretty good three or four times every 18 holes or so. In my head I was a pretty good golfer a lot more often than that, but I never really saw those fantasies materialize. My love-hate relationship with golf began in my teen years when a friend of mine got some clubs and started playing. I wanted to get involved and learn the sport, but couldn’t afford golf clubs back then. That barrier was removed on Continue reading
About three years ago, I discovered that the reason I couldn’t walk half a block without puffing and blowing like an overworked steam engine wasn’t just because I was out of shape, and that weird aching in my left arm wasn’t just because I pulled a muscle. I had reached that stage of life where guys like me who haven’t had at least one stent inserted in some vital coronary artery just aren’t keeping up. The medical folks ran a device up through one of my arteries to see what was going on in there. They discovered that I had a blockage that would potentially veto my plan to Continue reading
Saying things that sounded peculiar or counterintuitive to human nature was one of the hallmarks of Jesus’ interactions, especially with His adversaries. After hearing one of his characteristic comments, it was probably commonplace for some in His audience to pause and say, “Wait… What???” That kind of reaction may have followed Jesus’ response to Continue reading
A short walk past our neighbor’s house and down the hill leads to a low-lying area that has collected runoff water and become a small pond full of stagnant, slimy green water. For years, it was what we called a “dry creek,” an oxymoronic designation meaning that during the rainy times, a little creek would form, but in the dry seasons, it would disappear. I’m not sure what happened to change that pattern, but at some point, any water that found its way there ceased to flow out, and what was sometimes a “creek” is now just a swampy haven for a variety of distasteful creatures. That stagnant pond provides a home and breeding ground for things like mosquitoes, frogs, snakes, turtles, and lizards. Some suggest that a pond like that may produce a certain genre of politician, but I Continue reading
One of my daughter’s favorite toys when she was a little girl was an “Etch-a-Sketch.” It had a red plastic frame with a gray screen and two little knobs at the bottom and looked like a little TV. Moving the knobs caused a black line to appear, and manipulating them enabled the holder to draw or write on the screen. One knob moved the line up and down and the other moved it from side to side. It was a high tech marvel at the time and my daughter had a love-hate relationship with it. After devoting enough time to have drawn 15 pictures on a regular sheet of paper, she’d emit an exasperated groan, turn Continue reading
