Sometime life is Escher-like,
Stairs that seem to go up or down don’t.
Architecture breaks all the rules,
And walls morph.
Upside down is right side up;
People passing each other
Are going up and down
As if there are no gravitational laws. Continue reading An homage to Escher…and Jesus
The story is too awful to consider.
A rich man decided to call in the debts of a slave who was so buried by them he couldn’t pay them back in even 10 lifetimes. Yet in a twisted sense of justice the master says, “Pay your bills or else.”
“Or else I will sell you, your wife, your little children and all of your possessions in order to recover some of what you owe me.” Presumably this would be the end of their life as a family, and the slave could only imagine what terrible things were in store for his pathetic little family. Continue reading Pay your bills, or else!
Growing up in a straight-laced family had its benefits: conscientious parents, good enduring friends, hospitality, stability, and protective morality. Hard work and integrity were DNA-like in their influence. The thought of disappointing others was as compelling as the fear of going to Hell.
But the same things that functioned as a moral compass could also morph into something ugly. Call it legalism or self-righteousness, it is the tendency to become superficial in regard to the big, nuclear virtues like love, compassion, and faithfulness. Jesus called it “straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.” Continue reading The F-word
Our free society provides for equal access to trial by jury for every citizen of our country. It’s one of the ways we preserve individual freedoms and insure that a dictatorial, arbitrary form of government does not take over.
Courts are anal about assembling juries that are as fair as possible. Potential jurors are asked various iterations of “Do you think you can render an objective verdict?” The ones that say “no” or that the court perceives to have too many external, prejudicial influences are excused. Continue reading It is what it is.
“You let people walk all over you.” A friend recounted how an advice-giver told him to “get a spine.” Seemed like good advice. Being everyone’s doormat is not a good thing.
Although… Power is funny because it doesn’t always give what it promises to its possessor. Continue reading We want to sit at the head table.
Wrestling with God
Began in my maturity
When knees and hands all arthritic
Beg me not to engage in such sport.
As a young man it did not
Occur to me that wrestling
Was permitted against a foe like God
Who could toss me around like a rag doll. Continue reading Wrestling Matches
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
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
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