When you input the word humor into the Google database you will receive a staggering 209 million hits. I decided to narrow that with a restrictive qualifier like “philosophical humor”. That apparent buzz killing phrase still generated over 17,000 hits. So it was with some interest that I entered the ultimate oxymoron into the Google engine. “Cancer humor”. That narrowed the responses to about 5,000. To give you a feel for how low this is in Google world…you can type in “infield fly rule” and get 111,000 hits.One of the life lessons that Joni and I are learning on her/our cancer journey is the truth of the wise king who wrote this classic lament. There is a time for everything,       and a season for every activity under heaven:a time to be born and a time to die,       a time to plant and a time to uproot,a time to kill and a time to heal,       a time to tear down and a time to build,a time
Continue reading...

I finally got around to reading the DaVinci Code this weekend. I figured I might as well add my contribution to the DaVinci Over Load hysteria that is sweeping our land. Seriously…I suspect the US economy is growing in large part because of the cottage industry that is the DaVinci Code. I stopped by a book retailer this weekend and they had three full tables of DOL (DaVinci Over Load) stuff. Try DaVinci Code on Google and you will get over 9 million hits. To be honest, I am already tired of this before the movie even comes out this weekend. But when I dug into the controversy I was fascinated.I wanted to be intellectually honest when I am asked about the book. I know that Dan Brown will be fascinated with my critiques because I only need to sell another 39, 975,000 copies of When Bad Christians Happen to Good People to be dead even in sales with Brown. I just need everyone in my beloved home state of
Continue reading...

Dear friends Nelson and Suzie deserted us to go live in the Texas Hill Country. We have tried to lure them back with Biblical admonitions.  “You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.”  Deuteronomy 2:3 (The reference is for the other readers Nelson…I know you have Deuteronomy memorized) But they have ignored our wisdom and have settled in the rolling hills between Austin and San Antonio. One of our friend’s challenges of country living was making sure that their dog Pepper would not wander away. Pepper is about 10 pounds of pure attitude.  He needed to be safely restrained from animals that were not intimidated by blustering small packages. So Nelson installed an underground fence to keep Pepper at bay. For those who don’t know about this innovation, underground fencing is a wired perimeter with a radio antenna. When the dog approaches the wired boundary it sends out a signal that activates a battery in the dog’s collar. The battery causes a shock similar to static electricity, and the dog backs
Continue reading...

An interesting note in a recent edition of The Week magazine featured two short blurbs about the art of resume writing. One company that does background checks has found that well over half of all resumes contain false information. Background Information Services has found that most people stretch the truth about their work and educational credentials. This one hit close to home for me. A few years ago I was asked to write a bio that would be sent out with a press kit for my new book, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. My educational background was, to be very kind, inconsistent. I was attention deficit before it was cool. Instead of having accommodations and testing and medication I was called into the guidance counselor’s office and chastised for underachieving and laziness. Those are indeed great motivators. I loved the line from Donald Miller’s new book To Own a Dragon. Miller was describing the difficulties of paying attention in
Continue reading...

Last Friday I published a gently read post from last year about the ridiculous warning labels that manufacturers feel compelled to print because we, the citizens of this planet, are stupid. How else could you explain needing to explain that you should remove the child before folding a baby stroller? If I neglected to do that I would have to put a warning label on my wife’s shoe. “Remove from derriere before sitting after folding child in stroller.” I am really not excited to report that we are not getting any smarter but the folks at Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch are having a blast chronicling the slow and agonizing death of common sense. This year’s winners of the Wacky Warning Label Contest are in. The contest, now in its ninth year, is conducted to reveal how lawsuits, and concern about lawsuits, have created a need for common sense warnings on products.So enjoy this years winners starting with the runners-up. A cocktail napkin
Continue reading...

Disclaimer…today was a Doctor Date with the lovely Mrs.Burchett so there was no time to write.  I have retrieved a post from the early days of this blog when I didn’t have the dozens of readers that I now claim. If this post was a used vehicle it would be described as “gently read“. So please forgive the re-run. I hope to have some freshly baked blather on Monday. Have a blessed weekend! Occasionally  I take another step in my inevitable march toward geezerhood. You know that stage of life where you get grumpy and tell people how it used to be back in the good old days. One of the things that advances me more quickly to that stage is the attempt to make life risk free. A group called the Michigan Law Suit Abuse Watch has an annual contest to find the stupidest product warning labels. The Wacky Warning Label Contest is in it’s eighth year and they have uncovered
Continue reading...

This morning I looked out in the backyard and noticed that adopted dog Hannah was vibrating. She usually only vibrates when she meets a new friend so I got a little curious. When I investigated I found that Hannah had “befriended” a box turtle that had somehow found it’s way through our fences and into our yard. The turtle seemed considerably less excited about the relationship with Hannah but he/she did seem to sense that the vibrating lab was, at worst, annoying. A few minutes later I checked again on the turtle. The turtle had managed to fall into our pool and it was apparent that land turtles cannot swim. I looked for the leaf skimmer but we had attached the brush instead. In the meantime the poor little thing was flailing, stretching it’s neck as much as it could to break the surface, and it was clear the turtle was doomed without some help. So I jumped in and saved the
Continue reading...