Each day I receive via email a daily devotional published by an Islamic organization. Last week one was entitled, "How to earn Allah's favor." If anyone ever wanted an answer to the question, "What is the difference between Islam and Christianity?" this was it. We do...
Like many of us our friend has a second checking account to use on special occasions. Normally it sits dormant. And so it is she has received notification from her bank that they charged her fifty dollars as an inactivity fee. The account only contained...
My apologies to Robert Frost but I too stopped by some woods on a snowy evening. My three hundred horses must have thought it queer to stop without a red light or red sign near. But there was a family of deer moving slowly through...
It was cold today. Icy wind whipped around the corner of the library on our campus. As my wife and I rounded that frigid corner we bumped into a student trying to shelter herself as she talked on her cell phone. It was the only...
There are, maybe, nine billion people on earth. No one knows for sure. But something we do know for sure is there are four point five billion cell phones on earth. People who live decades away from the infrastructure needed for land line phones can...
When I was a teacher in Uganda some of my students would call me Mr. Krall. When I explained I wasn't Mr. Krall they would often say, "But all you white people look alike." I was amused and flattered. Mr. Krall was so much better...
Late yesterday afternoon we took our California family to Logan airport for their trip home. At ten, four hours after they had been scheduled to takeoff, they called. Their flight was not just delayed, it was cancelled! So back to Logan we went to bring...
We have this old wooden bear standing near our bird feeder. It stands on its hind legs. Knowing that our grandchildren would be here during the holidays, my wife put an old hooded coat on the bear. Sure enough the birds quickly became used to...
We received a box of Godiva chocolates for Christmas. They are an indulgent luxury one should never buy for oneself. That being one of my core beliefs means I can only have a Godiva chocolate when given one. This is the second time in my...
We are in the midst of what the weather people are calling a blizzard. The wind has for over three hours been blowing over thirty five miles an hour and has been pelting the sides of our house with tiny ice crystals. At some point...