Those Among You Who Fear God

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” Without Google, I could not tell you that Shakespeare wrote that in his play, Julius Caesar. I must have read it at some point, probably in high school, and the phrase stuck with me. Why? It uses vocative language to...

If it looks like a duck

We identify things by comparing their qualities to the qualities of other things we know. Consider the following description. It is round. It is oval. It is white. It is in a carton with 11 others just like it. It must be an _____. (See answer below.) In John 13:35,...

Looking for a Place of Prayer

The new year is upon us. Perhaps you are reviewing this past year. Maybe you are resolving yourself to the next. In all of the flurry of our daily lives, make time for quiet time. When you feel crushed by compounding and increasingly urgent priorities, push back and...

Inconceivable

“You keep using that word…” Some can quote The Princess Bride movie. Having seen it once or twice myself, I only remember bits and pieces of a silly dialogue about the word “inconceivable.” Wallace Shawn’s character kept saying it to describe the...

Really, Look for the Right Things!

Teaching chemistry can be difficult. You hate to ask the question, “What part did you not understand?” Mostly because you’ll get the answer, “That part starting after, ‘Good morning, class!’” To teach a single concept, you need to teach it several different ways. To...

Come and See for Yourselves!

A friend from Germany visited Penelope, Texas. She had seen a map and intellectually understood that towns in Texas were separated by miles and miles. She did not truly understand it until she saw how long and empty the road was between Birome, Leroy, Penelope, and...

It Is Finished

How much longer? Maybe you have a countdown app on your phone, or you place a big “X” on the calendar every day. Sometimes it can’t just get here soon enough. A birthday, graduation, retirement, or getting out of a cast/quarantine can make time feel like it is...

Change Is Tough

The Air Force provides a lot of training, very little of it on a volunteer basis. One of the trainings I took was in “Change Management.” It may have had a different, more military sounding name, something like “Non-linear Progression of Leadership Requirements” but I...

What Was I Thinking?

If I don’t finish a project before the end of the day, then there is a good chance that when I come back to it the next day, I will ask myself, “What was I thinking?” Until I remember what I was thinking, “I lose the bubble,” and just stare at it. Sometimes I think I...

Stand Up!

Why do we stand up? Sometimes the reason is simple. Perhaps we need to move, or the meal is over. But do we ever stand up for somebody? Grandpa walks into the room, and we stand up to give her a hug. Grandma gets to the restaurant late, and we stand up to greet her....

New Testament

Wrong Side of the Tracks

Wrong Side of the Tracks

Some people are just born on the wrong side of the tracks. By luck of birth, one person is socially desirable, and another is undesirable. The Jews thought Jesus was from the wrong side of the tracks. He came from the region of Galilee. His home town was Nazareth, a...

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Hallmark Cards

Hallmark Cards

Why does Hallmark make cards? Somehow they seem to have the exact right words for different situations. What do you say to someone in the hospital? Send them a get-well card! What do you say to new grandparents-to-be? Send them a get-well card too! What do you say to...

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Ozymandias

Ozymandias

“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” That’s the only phrase I remember from that poem. We read it in high school and were taught that it had a double meaning. On the one hand, Ozymandias wrote it to terrify other kings into submission. On the other hand, it...

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Old Testament

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