Musings

By Myrna Conrad Since this is the month of Easter, I want to reflect on and talk about grace. I know there are various definitions of grace. Among them are: “simple elegance or refinement of movement;” “an attractively polite manner of behaving;” and “a period officially allowed for payment of...

By Gueary Clendenning Easter Reflections In our culture, we think of the day as starting in the morning and ending with night. In the Biblical culture, the opposite is true. Genesis chapter 1, verse 5 reads: “And the evening and the morning were the first day.” In the Jewish calendar, the...

By Dave Holland “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was...

By Sean Dietrich Major League Baseball spring training started today. I sat on my porch, listening to a radio. And I was cheering. I mean genuinely cheering. The Atlanta Braves play the Tampa Bay Rays. The national anthem was played. The umpire used his time-ravaged voice to shout, “Play ball!” I...

By Myrna Conrad What does freedom of speech mean? We all have the ability to say or express whatever we want to in any country. However, there are varying degrees of repercussions and consequences within the legal system of various governments. In the U.S., the First Amendment addresses our rights,...

By Dave Holland “But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ I tell you, it...

By Sean Dietrich She has a box of to-go food in her hands. I overhear the man at the barbecue joint counter say she is missing two pounds of brisket. The man apologizes to the people in line, then he tells her it will be coming right up. “Don’t forget extra sauce,”...

By Lauren Cantanese “The pastor told us, “Love is not a feeling; feelings change periodically. Love is a choice. And when you make that choice to choose love, even if you don’t feel like loving, you are choosing to love unconditionally. You recognize that we are all flawed creations, created...

By Myrna Conrad We often start each New Year with commitments (New Year’s resolutions) to do things differently. We commit to eat less, work out more, spend less, travel more, step out of our comfort zone more, love more, stress less, and numerous other grand aspirations to start the year...

By Sean Dietrich DEAR SEAN: I don’t think my school is going to have prom for 2021, everyone is guessing this is the case. We don’t know yet, but it’s probably not happening. It just sucks that we might not get to do this because we have nothing to look forward...