It has always been true that the world has a way of catching us off guard. Many of us like to think we have our life in control. Especially if we were fortunate enough to be born into a comfortable middle-class family, we have been taught to work hard and life will reward you. Pestilence, … Continue reading Sabbatical Series: Lessons Learned Through Loss
One of the things the now two-year-old COVID-19 pandemic has taken from those individuals who have found themselves isolated from family and friends is not only actual personal visits or personal interactions but the thrill of anticipation of that happening. These individuals might include those who live in a private room in a nursing facility. … Continue reading The Thrill of Anticipation
Maybe you have a neighbor, friend, or relative who has the key(s) to your home or business. This is the person you want to watch over your property when you are away and notify you if something is not quite right. Iâm going to share with you a story I happened to see on television … Continue reading Hold Onto My Keys While I’m Gone
The grapevine when it is bursting with royal purple grapes against large emerald-green heart-shaped leaves is just about as pretty as any fruit on any fruit tree. And wine made from these luscious berries feels equally at home at an elegant dinner party, for a casual event or on a church communion table. But before … Continue reading Message of the Grapevine–Pass It On!
In December 2021 I participated in an hour and a half ZOOM meeting with two educators as they led a hands-on pie-baking activity with Baranof Elementary School students and their families in Sitka, Alaska. And the wonderful part of that for me was that they were using the recipe from my childrenâs reader Sweet Potato … Continue reading Wonderful Thank You Gifts from Sitka, Alaska!
We are living in a time when it is very difficult to know what truth is, or perhaps it has always been that way. I recently reread George Orwellâs novel 1984 written and published in 1949. I read it for the first time in the 1960s; so I, as well as Orwell, was looking into … Continue reading Truth or Lies–Is it Possible to Know?
The blog posts in my Who Is Jesus Series define Jesus in His own words: âthe bread of life,â âthe light of the world,â âthe door,â âthe good shepherdâ and today, âthe resurrection and the life.â All are teachings of Jesus found in Godâs Holy Word as the Gospel of John presents them. As a … Continue reading Who Is Jesus? The Resurrection and the Life
How do you access the various places you go during the week? Whether we are going into our home; a place where we work, attend class, or enjoy ourselves; where we buy our daily necessities; or our house of worshipâmost likely we pass through a door. Even if we go to some of these places … Continue reading Who Is Jesus? The Door
Before I address the question of who Jesus is, maybe I should tell you briefly who I am and what might qualify me to ask you, my readers, to trust my thoughts on the subject. I am not academically trained in Bible studies nor ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaicâthe languages of the Dead Sea Scroll … Continue reading Who Is Jesus? The Light of the World
When someone asks who you are, what do you say? Maybe just your first name. Or perhaps your first and last name. Or you may even add your job description depending on where you are when the question is asked. God in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible identified Himself to Moses with a … Continue reading Who Is Jesus? The Bread of Life
I don't know if the monetary value or the number of your Christmas, Hanukkah, or other Winter Holiday presents was different this year than in years past. Perhaps your financial situation has been insecure due to the ramifications of the spread of Coronavirus-19 and its variants. Maybe you are feeling down that you could not … Continue reading The Best Presents: Family and Friends
As I was recently going through some old family documents, I came across a United States Postal Service first class stamp with the denomination of six cents. âWow!â I thought. âWhen I sent a Christmas card this year, the cost was fifty-eight.â The stamp had never been used to send a piece of mail, but … Continue reading In the Beginning…
EnglishââGive thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.â Psalm 107:1 NIV (The Holy Bible, New International Version 2011) Françaisâ<<Dites merci au SEIGNEUR, car il est bon, et son amour est pour toujours!>> Psaume 107:1 PDV (La Sainte Bible, Parole de Vie 2017) EspaĂąolâ<<Den gracias al SeĂąor, porque ĂŠl es bueno, … Continue reading Give Thanks!
One of my climbing red rose bushes last year developed a really thick stem with huge prickly thorns for practically its entire length of about four feet. That started me to think about the thorns we are enduring in our daily lives which have been turned topsy-turvy in 2020 and 2021 as we react to … Continue reading Enduring Thorns
There are times when life can become overwhelming. The sense of not being able to shoulder alone what is being thrown at you is very real for all of us at one time or another. It may be the loss of a loved one. Or losing oneâs job. Struggling with health issues. Betrayal of a … Continue reading Carrying Each Other’s Burdens
This may be the season when you find yourself with extra green tomatoes on the vine in your garden, or you see them at your farmerâs market or at your grocerâs. If so, here is an easy recipe for Sizzling Southern Fried Green Tomatoes, just the way I made them for my children when they … Continue reading Sizzling Southern Fried Green Tomatoes: Tingle Your Taste Buds (Recipe with Photos)
During the fall and winter monthsâor anytime, for that matterâtaking a little extra time to prepare a special treat to eat can help take our minds off things that may be challenging in our lives. Here is a favorite recipe of mine for Sweet Potato Pie. Sweet Potato Preparation: 2 cups cooked sweet potatoes drained … Continue reading Maybe It’s Time for Sweet Potato Pie (Recipe)
Most everyone loves chocolate. If that includes you, you are in for a surprise at how easy and delicious todayâs Magic Chocolate Cake is. It has a texture somewhere between chocolate cake and chocolate brownie. The recipe comes from a vegetarian cookbook called The Peaceful Palate by Jennifer Raymond. She says it is magic because … Continue reading The Magic Is in the Mix (Recipe with Photos)
From time to time Iâve watched a few of the PBS episodes called âStorage Wars.â These are about abandoned rental storage units all over the U.S.A. opened up for on-site auction sales of the contents. Whether the unit contains junk or âjewels,â it may represent our desire to acquire more and more. Along with that … Continue reading How Much Stuff Is Enough?
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish author of novels, plays, and poems. In 1808 he wrote the poem âMarmion: A tale of Flodden Field.â In it he cleverly and skillfully pointed out the risk of telling falsehoods with the couplet: âOh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive.â Just as with … Continue reading The Tangled Web We Weave
We see it all around us: cars stolen, vehicles broken into; valuables stripped from a home or shop through break-in and entry; packages snatched from a front porch; retail merchandise slipped out of a store; someoneâs identity information used in a fraudulent manner; take-overs of personal, corporate, and governmental online systems through hacking. The list … Continue reading I’ll Just Help Myself, Thank You!
Little girls pluck the petals from a flower and dream their way to the colorful last one. âHe loves me. He loves me not,â they repeat. Middle school boys exhibit awkwardness when that certain someone is close by. Youths and adults seek companionship and intimacy. Everyone wants a love that will last a lifetime. The … Continue reading Faithfulness Within a Sacred Union
Genesis, the first book of Moses in the Holy Bible, tells us that God created the first man Adam from the dust of the earth and the first woman Eve from one of Adamâs ribs. We are also told that these first persons in the world were created in the image of the God who … Continue reading Disregard for the Image of God
Whether your mother and father are your biological parents or others who raised you, they are the reason you have life. Of course we know some did a better job at loving, protecting, and nurturing than others. It hasnât been very long since my youngest adult child said to me, âMom, thanks for giving me … Continue reading Those Who Gave Us Life
Although the term R&R has varying interpretations in different situations, a basic meaning is rest and recreation. Now, we all know what ârestâ means. But wait a minute: how did you pronounce ârecreationâ in your head as you were reading? Did you say [RECK ree A shun]? Or did you say [REE kree A shun]? … Continue reading Making Time for R&R
What a person is named or called is a sensitive issue for many. What Mom or Dad thought was a unique and lovely name for their newborn may later cause that child to be ridiculed. A guy who is a âJr.â may feel he can never be the achiever his Dad was. Some love nicknames. … Continue reading What’s In a Name ?
Todayâs snippet blog post presents what I call the Second Lighthouse Lamp of a list of ten spiritual directives which anyone can use to give meaning and direction to life. The first was acknowledging and worshiping One God. The second, which we are looking at today, instructs us not to create and then worship the … Continue reading Creating Our Own Gods
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