The SCOTUS hearings that took place in our nation’s capital earlier this week, coupled with the way other recent news events have been handled, have made the simple matter of asking questions an issue worthy of our attention. Since human history began, questions have been an indispensable tool in the development of interactive communication. And as we’ve seen lately, the process of investigation, discovery, and learning at any level can be severely impaired or dismantled altogether when that basic process is manipulated or completely disallowed. It has also been clearly demonstrated that punctuating a sentence with a question mark doesn’t always indicate that a simple answer is all the interrogator wants to achieve. When the privilege of direct questioning isn’t categorically denied, the questions asked are sometimes designed to be used more as a means of delivering an accusation than obtaining an answer. Again and again, we have watched interviewers twist questions into something more like an “interrogatory indictment”. Continue reading
A Different Kind of Victory
In the ongoing theater of human history, the contest unfolding on the American stage of governance right now is more dramatic and intense than any we have witnessed. The hyper-contentious atmosphere prevailing in the land has spawned conflicts and confrontations in nearly every category of human contact. Unknowns abound and new questions create another frantic search for answers on a daily basis, but one question seems to overshadow them all . . . Continue reading
Alarms ~ Opportunities in Disguise
Alarms come in lots of different forms. Sometimes they are simple, multipurpose instruments, like bells, whistles, lights, or flags that have been adapted for use as a warning that danger is imminent. Other times they are more complex devices whose only purpose is to arrest attention and warn those who may be at risk. Our household fire alarms are a familiar example of the second category.
Smoke detectors had an interesting beginning. They originated from the work of a would-be inventor named Walter Jaeger in the late 1930s. The interesting thing is that he Continue reading
Wanted ~ More Sons of Issachar
The group of guys nearby may have been trying to see who could come up with the most extravagant understatement. I can’t say for sure, but if it was a contest, my money would have been on the bearded guy in the baseball cap. You could tell he was having a serious moment because he Continue reading
But Wait . . . There’s More!
If you watch TV very much, you’ve seen one of those commercials that present some “amazing” new product with features so incredible that life without them would be virtually unbearable. Just when you think you’ve endured it all and they’re finally wrapping up their sales pitch, the voice excitedly declares, “BUT WAIT . . . THERE’S MORE!” That’s when you discover that these wonderful people are willing to send you not one, but two of these life-changing products! Maybe today’s item is their indestructible skillet. Just think, if terrorists happened to attack your house while you were using one of them to melt your defective cell phone with a blowtorch, you could quickly Continue reading
A World Changing Proposition
This past week marked the 19th year since the most shocking and devastating day our country has endured since the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. On September 11, 2001, the nation found itself confronted with a common enemy whose hatred was not limited to demographic specifics like ethnic backgrounds, economic status, party affiliation, religious preference, or skin color. Just living here was enough to make anyone a target for death. Those conditions set in motion a common response throughout the land . . . people prayed.
A Powerful Incentive ~
Personal and national prayer rose in prominence after the 9/11 attacks to a level not seen since WWII. The graphic examples of senseless, Continue reading
