I miss my Dad. It was five years ago this month that he passed into eternity with Jesus. I still find myself wishing I could share good news with him. I still sometimes think it is him when the phone rings on Sunday afternoons. I wish he could have seen how his grandsons in Texas have grown up to be godly and good men. I wish he could have seen how his daughter-in-law trusted God as she faced down cancer. I wish he could have seen how his son finally began to understand how to live in the amazing grace of Jesus. I wish I could have told him that his example gave me a foundation for how the grace of God is possible. If my flawed earthly father could love me that much and without condemnation then I can begin to understand how a loving God can love me despite my junk and flaws. Not every man can say that
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Chicken Little is feeling a little smug this week. It appears that the ultimate alarmist was right. The sky, according to the media and Washington, is apparently falling. The official theme song for the nightly news could be the song they used to sing on Hee Haw called Gloom, Despair And Agony On Me. Everyone sing along…. Gloom, despair, and agony on me Deep, dark depression, excessive misery If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at allGloom, despair, and agony on me I see a lot of gloom in our country. And I see a lot of fear. I think it is apropos to remember that the most frequent command in the Bible is “do not be afraid”. Followers of Jesus can be a tremendous beacon of light if we are not afraid. Confident and content Christians can offer real hope that can really change lives. I learned a valuable lesson about handling fear from our Golden Retriever Charlie. He died a few years
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Today is National Signing Day for college football. All of the highly touted prospects sign their paper work and officially commit to play football at good old Whatsamatta U. (No wait, that was Bullwinkle. And where did they find the helmet that fit around his antlers? But I digress). At any rate, hundreds of young men with dreams of gridiron glory celebrate this day. Overwrought fans compare their list of “commits” to Rival U. to see if their school “won” the recruiting battle. Part of the process is a number of websites that evaluate prospects and assign stars to each player based on their perceived talent. A five star prospect is deemed a “can’t miss”. I wonder about the wisdom of giving stars to assign value to young athletes. Yet I confess that I get caught up in the recruiting drama and hope that some big-time players will be wearing the colors of my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes or my adopted Baylor
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On February 2nd they woke up Punxsutawney Phil long enough for the prognosticating rodent to let us know six more weeks of winter must be endured.  Phil looks about as happy as I do when when I am disturbed in the morning. Sixteen years ago a funny and underappreciated  movie came on the scene. Groundhog Day told the story of a self-absorbed news reporter (redundancy alert?) that finds himself stuck in an endless repeat of the same day. Bill Murray is perfect in the role of reporter Phil Connors. Since I live in the odd world of broadcast television I can relate to the cynical personality of Murray’s character. Reporter Phil is less than thrilled that he has been assigned to cover Punxsutawney Phil’s annual peek outside to predict winter’s duration. He feels he is “above” such an inane assignment. Connor’s looks into the camera and cynically reports: “This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a
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The NY Times reported that children who eat dirt as infants and toddlers are actually healthier. Here is an excerpt from that article. In studies of what is called the hygiene hypothesis, researchers are concluding that organisms like the millions of bacteria, viruses and especially worms that enter the body along with “dirt” spur the development of a healthy immune system. Several continuing studies suggest that worms may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma. “What a child is doing when he puts things in his mouth is allowing his immune response to explore his environment,” Mary Ruebush, a microbiology and immunology instructor, wrote in her new book, “Why Dirt Is Good” (Kaplan). “Not only does this allow for ‘practice’ of immune responses, which will be necessary for protection, but it also plays a critical role in teaching the immature immune response what is best ignored.” I had earlier
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There is a really nasty stomach virus working its way through North Texas. The bug got into my system last night and wreaked considerable havoc. I thought, of course, of the verse in Deuteronomy. Then I prostrated myself before God, just as I had at the beginning of the forty days and nights. I ate no food; I drank no water. (Deut. 5) Hopefully this will not last any where close to forty days and nights. The scouting report is that the virus lasts 2 days if you go to the doctor. If you let it run it’s course it lasts 48 hours. I am sitting at home waiting for this to run it’s natural course. I thought of how really lousy I have felt today. And then I realized how much I take for granted the fifty weeks or so out of every year when I feel good or even great. Sure I have the usual little aches and pains
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Regular readers of the humble ramblings know how much I love dog friend Hannah. She is such a calming influence that I often call her “furry Prozac”. A fun article in Parade Magazine by “Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan got me to thinking about how much I could learn in my Christian journey from my canine companion. Sanctification is not a word that Hannah would understand. Sadly, it is not a word that a lot of Christians understand either. It simply means the process of becoming more like Jesus. And just like everything else in this journey we can not do that apart from Christ. I will give you Cesar’s thoughts on life lessons that we can learn from dogs in italics. I will add my little spiritual postscript to each of his comments.  Live in the moment. Cesar – People often wonder how I get such quick results with the dogs I rehabilitate. The answer is simple: Dogs live in the moment. They don’t
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