Would you believe that 25% of the general public that participated in a recent National Science Foundation survey believe that the sun revolves around the earth! Or, how about this one: Many believe the “most interesting man in the world” who appears in a beer ad, is a real “most interesting person.” They are among those that believe that he really once experienced an awkward moment just to know how it feels! Try to argue with these folks…see how far you get! Don’t burden them with facts! Continue reading
Month: April 2014
The Lesson – Dedicated to Teachers
My dad was a preacher for nearly 60 years and when he died I became the holder of all his files, his sermons, his notes, etc., box after full box. Some of the material was just background stuff, little snippets here and there, often unrelated, some were just items he collected because he thought each was interesting.
Recently I came across the following “Lesson”. I have no idea where this came from, who might have written it (assuming dad did not), or when. The only date on this yellowed piece of paper is nearly 40 years ago. If you are currently a teacher trying to keep up with the constant changes that seem to be handed down by administrators who may never have been in the classroom, you can relate. I present it here because it has humor and truth. You can figure out which is which. Continue reading
Terry Tyrannosaurus and … $1.50 per day?
Way back before the invention of the printing press, I was a young father. As many young fathers often do, I invented some bedtime stories for my young children. While I am not much of a bedtime story inventor, I did come up with a few that both my daughter and son liked, and isn’t that what matters?
So, anyway, their favorite (and mine) was a series of three stories with Terry Tyrannosaurus as the hero. Terry lived before the invention of time and so we don’t know when he lived, we just know he did. His dad’s name was Rex, does that help? Now, I tried to create a story that had a meaning, a message, maybe even a moral! Heaven forbid! In my mind, the best of the batch was “Terry and the Garble Bush”. Continue reading
Holy Week – Fresh and New
Here we are in the midst of Holy Week, that important time for the Christian Church between Passion or Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. A solemn time, commemorating the events of Christ’s journey to the Cross and the Easter Sunday celebration of the Resurrection.
We listen to readings from Matthew or Luke recounting the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, and the growing fear on the part of the Pharisees leading to an assassination plot. Symbolically, we join fellow Christians and Jews in the Passover or the Last Supper, the ceremony of the Seder on Maundy Thursday. Continue reading
What’s on Your Kindle?
What is on your Kindle (Nook, iPod, etc.)? Isn’t it surprising how we accumulate books – books read, sampled, referenced, unfinished? What does the array of titles tell us about who we are? You don’t need to be an analyst to see patterns.
I took a chance… I inventoried my Kindle and, while I was not surprised, I was a taken back a bit. I have 62 books on my device and 70 more I have archived. Where did I find time for all that? The 62 on my Kindle are probably more telling than all those I archived. Continue reading
Poverty and We
How many of us really know what it is like to be deep in poverty? Where hunger lurks just over your shoulder, and feeding your children often requires that you park your dignity at a door where you never quite get it back? Have you stood in a grocery line with a young family in front of you and observed the agony (or is it defeat?) of the young mother sorting through food stamps? Can you imagine the grinding, harsh reality that there is never enough and that too many people, worldwide and in this country, go through on a daily basis? Continue reading