An Insignificant Sapling in a Plastic Bag
Wearing the best grin a grade-eighter could possibly muster without feeling silly, he handed me a small plastic bag. “It’s a tree and we have to plant it,” he said, unwaveringly. I looked at the object in question: an eight inch Blue Spruce sapling. The roots were half as long as the wanna-be tree and I knew in my heart the game was over before it started. This little twig didn’t have a chance. Nevertheless, we spent a portion of my younger son’s lunch hour digging a hole and...
Read MoreBrunette or Norwegian Blonde? It Really Doesn’t Matter!
Much has been said and written—and no doubt will continue to be said and written—about the impact COVID-19 is having on our society. We are cautioned and instructed repeatedly on how we should conduct ourselves if we are to be successful in combatting this invasion. Daily reports, personal views, and speculations for the ‘new normal’ are a constant these days. And,of course, we read headlines such as, “I think we’ll be lucky to break even,” and “International plowing match...
Read MoreThe Alternative is Not an Option
“Words are letters often shaped in quiet thought that paint a picture, tell a story, or recall a memory.” My younger son made that statement over fifteen years ago. There is so much thought behind it that I’ve used it repeatedly in different ways over the years. Today, it takes on another meaning, at least for me. Putting it simply—but not reducing the magnitude of it—in the last eight weeks our world has changed. Words have been used to describe that change in a way that two months...
Read MoreWe are Talking. We are Listening. But to Whom?
While driving in the United States several weeks ago, I heard an individual on the radio talk about our electronic age and the influence it’s having on our society. I found it thought-provoking because he was making some valid points, including new statistics on the depleting attention span of American youth. He quoted one teacher as stating with great concern that his students were so tied to their smart phones that when the school made a new ruling that no phones were allowed in the...
Read MoreA Diamond Mine
Sometimes in browsing the internet, not only do you find a gem worth sharing, but you find one that causes you to pause and think! Such is the following. George Everard (1828-1901) was born in Spalding, a small village in Lincolnshire, England. He became an evangelical Victorian vicar with all the hopes and cares that went with his calling. One of his earliest recollections was the gift of his first Bible given to him on Christmas day by his eldest sister. She had written inside: “Search the...
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