Monthly Archives: May, 2012
Thank you, Puryer Reeves
The question posed on a radio broadcast today, Memorial Day, 2012, was: “What would you say to a military person who is now dead.” While I have living and dead in my close family who served in World War II, my mind flew back to a man named Puryer Reeves. He was born in 1750 …
Educational Socialism
Earlier this week I wrote of a striking clock that no longer sounded. It looked like a clock, the pendulum moved, but it neither struck nor gave the hour of the day. It is disheartening to find empty Christians who go only through the motions and never really capture the joy of the Lord. That …
All Motion, No Moving
The title is bewildering. I wrote this about 12 years ago for a church publication. I thought you might find it thought provoking: From the time the older of my two daughters can remember, a clock in our home told out the hour. A faithful cuckoo bird chirped out the time. When she left home …
Chicken or Fish?
Yesterday I ate lunch with my daughter and her family. The grandchildren range in age from 16 years old to 2 years old. It is always an interesting table at which to sit. We had “pulled” pork as the meat. After lunch, I helped Kevin (16) put away the food and he mentioned putting away the …
The Yard Sale
It used to be called a “Rummage Sale” and folks who dressed their families with rummage sale clothing were deemed poor indeed. That was back in the late 1940’s when I was a child. My mother sewed her clothes and mine on a foot treadle sewing machine rather than shop at rummage sales. Then something …
In the Weeds
Strawberries: sweet, juicy, plump, mouth-watering goodness! Last year I planted a small bed of strawberries. I knew getting fruit off of them would not happen the first season. However, I hoped for a few berries this year. Well, maybe not. They are “in the weeds.” Perhaps it is the weeds in them? One more pulling …
Work
Thomas Edison said: “Invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” I am still reading a very long biography of Thomas A. Edison and I can say of a truth that Edison worked hours upon end and failed experiment upon failed experiment in order to achieve what lesser men would never follow through. Edison persevered through …
Cat Tracks
I wrote this eleven years ago when I was living in Tennessee. At that time I had a cat named DC (because he was one of a litter born at my church’s DayCare–Daycare Cat. DC) The local newspaper for Sevier County published it kindly in their Saturday religious section. Some years ago my dear friend, …
Popcorn and Unclaimed Blessings
Years ago now, before the common use of the microwave oven, we used to make popcorn in a large saucepan over the kitchen stove. It actually didn’t take too long to make and dirtied one pan and a few bowls. The popcorn at my house when I was a child was also homegrown popcorn. My …
Partly right, Partly Wrong
A few weeks into his presidency, President Obama made what some commentators have dubbed, “an apology tour” on which he visited several nations in the world. On those occasions he repeated a campaign statement that has raised the ire of many Americans. According to FactChecker.org, on June 28, 2006 in a campaign speech said: “we …
The Shepherd's Presence 