Let God Stir Up Your Holidays A few years ago I was signed up to ring the Salvation Army bell. I decided to read over the Christmas story in the Bible before I left the house. I noticed that the Christmas story is not just about the birth of Jesus. It is about the people [...]
Yearly Archives: 2006
November, 2006 – A Thanksgiving Feast I Will Never Forget
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
A Thanksgiving Feast I Will Never Forget I stepped into the community room of my dorm and saw a loaf of fresh baked bread and a bottle of wine on the table. I set down my own pot of potato cheese soup. In walked a girl with another hot dish. “I hope everybody likes squash, [...]
October, 2006 – No Pill Can Make You Happy With Life
Sunday, October 15, 2006
No Pill Can Make You Happy With Life Due to the fact that there is a body-mind-spirit connection, people who contend with chronic pain often fall into a vicious cycle of chronic pain leading to depression, leading to more pain. Yet the television commercial that asks “Where does your depression hurt?” irritates me to no [...]
September, 2006 – Getting Your Head Turned Around
Friday, September 15, 2006
Getting Your Head Turned Around The door bell rang. An adrenalin rush. I bristled. I did not want to answer the door. The phone rang. I said, “Oh no!” My wife ran into the house, “We’ve got mail!” “Uk! I groaned” You could say that I was having a bad hair day. You could say [...]
August, 2006 – A Second Look At The Creation Story
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
A Second Look At The Creation Story Recently the Palladium Item featured an article about the “Creation Museum” which is being built in the Cincinnati area. This museum is dedicated to presenting the facts of geological and biological evolution of the earth in accordance with a strict, literal interpretation of the Bible’s Creation story in [...]
July, 2006 – Lessons from a Tree
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Lessons From A Tree For the first two weeks of June the 80 foot tall Catalpa tree in my back yard was in full bloom with large clusters of white flowers from top to bottom. Like a gigantic bouquet it was gorgeous; impressive! The tree remained in full flower for about two weeks. As the [...]
June, 2006 – Tear Down This Wall!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Tear Down This Wall! When I was 17 years old, I participated in a prison visitation program at the juvenile detention center sponsored by my church in Columbus, Ohio. One day I visited an 11 year old boy named Manuel. Before I stepped into the visitation room I was told that he had been charged [...]
May, 2006 – The Most Precious Mother’s Day Gift
Monday, May 15, 2006
The Most Precious Mother’s Day Gift I am not a morning person. But last week I had to get up before dawn in order to participate in a special event. When I stepped out onto the deck to do my morning yoga and stretching routine the sky was still completely dark. No moon. I looked [...]
April 30, 2006 – Holy Week And Depth Perception
Sunday, April 30, 2006
In 1999, having already announced that I would have to retire from my church ministry in Rosendale, Wisconsin due to my disability, I wanted to celebrate Palm Sunday in a special way. Shortly after dawn a horse trailer pulled up to the parsonage and we unloaded a shaggy gray donkey. When the youth arrived at [...]
March, 2006 – What Is Our Hope?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
What Is Our Hope? On the eve of the renewal of the Patriot Act, I went to the Wayne County courthouse to attend a meeting of the “Help America Vote Act” commission. I was greeted by two armed guards, who asked me to go through a metal detector saying, “We are in a state of [...]