Striving

What is it to strive?  It is to attempt, to press toward, to strain for with great energy. When I work out, I “strive” to exercise at a level that will challenge me and increase my physical conditioning and health. I have never been shy of aspiring to high goals for my life even though …

Plausible Arguments

What am I if I am not a preacher…and a preacher must preach, even if it is only to a few people in a “blog”. One day a young preacher came to his first pastorate out in a small country church. On his inaugural Sunday the only ones there were his family and the head …

Truth or Circumstance?

There was an old TV show that began in 1950 and ran in some form until 1988 named Truth or Consequences.  It was a trivia game in which a contestant had to answer a question correctly or perform some kind of wacky “consequence” as a result. It began as a radio show in 1947 but …

Whom to Trust

I read in the Detroit News this week that John Sinclair died at age 82. Sinclair was a Michigan-born and bred American poet, writer, political activist, musician, and radio personality.  He became famous in the 1960s in the radical days of socialist rebellion against anything and anyone who was a part of or represented “the …

Objectivity Lost

English poet John Milton in 1667 published his epic poem “Paradise Lost” dealing with the fall of man. Someone today needs to write another epic poem entitled “Objectivity Lost”.  When I was a 13 year old lad and discovered Tigers Baseball in 1968, the year the Tigers had the best team in baseball and won …

How do You ‘See’ the Resurrection?

This coming Sunday is Easter, or more biblically identified as “Resurrection Sunday”. Down through the ages here in America, this day has been a part of not only the church but the culture and society at large. It is still woven in some ways into the fabric of our society much like Christmas even though …

Almost There

With the death of my mother - and my father having been gone some 43 years, it is no wonder to you, I am sure, that my thoughts have led me to measure my life more carefully.  If by God’s good providence, I should live to 80 (by no means a given) it occurs to …

Melting Away

The vast majority of us in America have watched (likely several times) the classic 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”. It was already 16 years in release by the time I was born in 1955 but, as most generations since, I grew up with it being a special treat to watch. It was especially so …

Why Me?

The question “Why me?” has often been asked down through the ages. Its employment covers a broad spectrum of circumstances that beg its invocation.  As a parent with five children, you might ask one to take out the garbage and the question might be put forth, “Why me and not one of the other siblings?”  …

Goodbye, Mom

When I arose from bed on Friday, February 23rd, 2024, I awoke to a world which I had never known. From July 30, 1955, to that morning, I had awakened every day into a world that included my mother, Bernice Dean McIntosh (nee Taylor).  The day before; February 22nd, at approximately 8:45 a.m., she stopped …