He is probably twenty years old but to someone my age he is a kid. He surprised me. He came into the first class and took a seat up front right under my nose. I assume those are the students who are eager to be...
Some time ago my older son drove in “The King of the Hammers,” a desert rock race in Southern California. It is more than a hundred miles of brutally traumatizing your internal organs while trying to keep your car upright. Isn’t it strange what some...
I am sitting here eating a clementine and it occurred to me that I do not know the difference between clementines and tangerines. So I did my usual routine and Googled it. And the answer is – clementines don’t have seeds and tangerines do. Tangerines...
While reading the fine print on a coupon my wife noticed that it was not transferable, which seemed strange considering it had come addressed to OCCUPANT. Did this mean that I could not give it to my neighbor and he could not give his to...
Many years ago I organized a necktie party. (No not the traditional kind.) It seems in the eagerness of my youth I confused western culture with Christianity. It is a common error of missionaries - especially young ones. It is difficult for us to sort...
A L. L. Bean Hunting catalog came in today’s mail. It reeks with testosterone. I feel manly just turning the pages and looking at the Labrador Retrievers holding slain ducks in their dripping maws. My credit card wanted to leap from my wallet as I...
“Requite injury with kindness. Keep behind, and you shall be put in front. He who is great makes humility his base. To know, but to be as one not knowing, is the height of wisdom. To the good I would be good; to the evil...
Once in a while a student will startle me. It happened this afternoon. Out of the last fifteen classes she has been absent twelve times. That wasn’t startling. What made me almost gasp was her question, “How am I doing?” She has heard three lectures. ...
Watching the Winter Olympics fills us with wonder at the prowess and ability of human beings. When we choose to be we can be marvelous creatures. But occasionally watching the Olympics reminds us of our ordinary tendency not to take responsibility for our faults. Speed...
Once upon a time there was a man with a thousand wives and this is the gained wisdom he shared with us. “Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.” Proverbs 5:18. “A quarrelsome wife is like a...