A dreaded jury summons came with the bills and adverts for the Land’s End sale. Pangs of guilt also came because jury service should be an honor rather than a nuisance – a privilege of living in a democratic society.
The badge number is sixteen-0-two. From now on four digits are our names to preserve anonymity. Names get changed a second time after the panel is seated. Only one or two digits now – one through fourteen. Continue reading Twelve Plus Two
Shakespeare said it. “Like a red morn that ever yet betokened, Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field, Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.” (From Venus and Adonis.)
So did Jesus. “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ (Matthew 16:2,3) Continue reading Red Sky in the Morning
Before a teacher left his village on a long trip he entrusted his two best apprentices with the responsibility of insuring that progress in education continued in the small community. The village had rudimentary needs, and there was much work to be done in the teacher’s absence.
The first apprentice was meticulous in his lesson preparations and in doing things exactly as the teacher did them. Rules were strictly enforced. Lesson books were carefully followed. Lunch was always served at exactly the same hour. The apprentice left for the day precisely 10 minutes after the students left. He was keenly aware of the exact obligations of the job. Continue reading The Apprentice
A friend of mine recently asked me to speak to a local civic club about the value of public service. It’s a topic I feel particularly passionate about, so I said yes. Here are my top 5 reasons that everyone should find ways to serve his/her community.
Public Service (hereafter PS) is a small attempt to return some of the benefits of living in a village, town, or city. Regular garbage pickup, potable water, relatively crime free environments, orderly traffic, public schools, places to purchase items needed for life such as food or medical care, and entertainment venues are just a few of the many benefits of life in a community. The greater the involvement of the citizenry, the greater these benefits become. Continue reading My Top Five Reasons for Public Service
The highway traffic began to slow down. Sixty-five was the speed limit, but when it hit fifty-five and then forty-five it was obvious that something had happened up ahead. The curves and elevation changes of the road prevented seeing the cause, but everyone thought that it must be a bad wreck.
Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Stop. Nothing but tail lights and short tempers three lanes deep. Continue reading Tapping the Brakes
Chewing gum stuck to the shoe or under a chair once occupied a person’s mouth. And, the more that other pieces of gum congregate with it the more noxious it becomes. Like at the Pike Place Gum Wall in Seattle.
A used Kleenex blowing down the street on a windy day should only be touched with the edges of one’s fingernails, certainly not with the skin of the fingers. Who knows what was blown into the absorbent sheet. Continue reading Treated Like Used Gum
In an ancient middle eastern village a leper took up his usual place. He sat on his tattered carpet with a tin cup waiting for whatever would clink from the passersby of his little world. He stayed there from dawn to dusk, no matter what the weather. His meal that night would depend on what he received for the day.
A self-righteous person had a noticeably unpleasant expression on his face as he looked at the leper. He walked this way often, and this wasn’t the first time he had seen the leper, sometimes saying under his breath, “Lazy bum; why don’t you get a job like the rest of us. If I was in your shoes, I’d find some kind of job, even becoming a slave.” Continue reading Compassion and the Leper
One hundred and forty characters.
Even commas and tildes count.
A hashtag or an ampersand has the same weight
As an A or an O.
Descriptions won’t fit.
A sunset or a baby’s cheek
Get no more space than
A street address. Continue reading The Twitter Post
I hate liver. I can still smell the pungent odor that was created when my mother cooked liver and onions. I can still remember trying to stifle the gag reflex it caused when my parents told me to “eat your dinner.” I can still feel its awful texture in my mouth and taste the nasty, livery flavor.
In short, you could never tempt me to eat liver. I’d have to be starving before I’d let it pass by my lips.
The cover of the January 8, 2014 edition of Christian Century proclaimed, “Why We Need the Dark Psalms.” In the cover article, writer Martin Tel reminds his readers of how the Western church has conveniently eliminated the dark psalms from its song repertoire in favor of happier psalms and hymns.
I have to admit that the Psalms are more representative of life than the hymnbook of the name-it-and-claim-it crowd on Sunday morning television. As much as we’d like it to be otherwise, life is unfair, cruel, unpredictable, and ruthless. Continue reading Singing the Dark Psalms
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