Life – a cup at a time
As both a Christian and an American, I firmly believe in the separation of Church and State. Please hear me out. We are nearing Thanksgiving in the U.S. and are surrounded by reminders of the Pilgrims sitting down with their new neighbors to give thanks for surviving to that point. It’s easy to forget why …
On August 31, 2019, my path crossed that of a mass killer. I live in Odessa, Texas, and was in the shopping area where most of the random shooting took place. Going from store to store on a hunt for a new outdoor grill, five minutes later at one intersection — or earlier at another …
Heated discussions in my family often ended with someone declaring “It’s just semantics!” as we often agreed in the essentials, if not the specifics. But semantics matter. For writers, it should never be “just semantics”. We should be careful and cognizant of what we say, how we say it, and what the consequences might be. …
Why are people so passionate about walls? In an age of airplanes, drones, mass media, and the internet, physical walls are obsolete in the face of terrorists and opposing ideas. But walls abound, between nations, between neighbors, and within our own selves. As a child, I grew up learning that emotions weren’t allowed. “Quit crying, …
Much has been written, screamed and shouted about the “migrant caravan” during the last month or so, most of it overly simplistic to serve the agenda of any given speaker. As so often happens with an active migration, there are many agendas at play. First, we were told of the violence at the Guatemala-Mexico border. …
The American Dream is dead. That’s what we’re hearing, from blue-collar workers to university professors to immigration lawyers. Is it really? Certainly, it’s become harder to immigrate to this country. And it’s also become harder to achieve home-ownership, living debt free and retiring comfortably. And the news constantly bombards us with pictures of angry, disenfranchised …
‘Tis the season for flag waving, and with all the discussion in the news about patriots and “un-patriots” (I prefer non-patriot), this is a good time to reflect on what patriotism is – and what it isn’t. Most agree that someone who has served honorably in the military is a patriot. Those willing to die …
The news has been filled with the story of the guy from Mali who rescued a four year old dangling from a balcony in Paris on May 26, 2018. This is a story of grace. The young man heard a commotion, saw the child dangling from a fourth-floor balcony, and began to climb. He didn’t …