Sir Walter Raleigh, the English aristocrat, was a writer, poet, soldier, politician, spy and explorer. His life was filled with adventure, intrigue, fortune and controversy.
In 1603 he was arrested and charged with treason in a plot to assassinate King James of England. On October 29, 1618, Raleigh was taken to the Old Place Yard at the Palace of Westminster where he was beheaded. When he was led to the block, his executioner asked him if his head lay right. Continue reading
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Today is Columbus day. It is the day that we honor Christopher Columbus who is credited with discovering the “new world” on October 12, 1492.
Someone joked that there were three profound things about Christopher Columbus’ discovery of America: Continue reading
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Shawn Jefferies, from Columbia, Tennessee, kicked off our Fall Focus Series yesterday morning with this question:
“When you hear the word ‘holy’ what do you think of? Continue reading
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There is a great quote in the movie Lion King. It comes toward the end when the young lion, Simba is living in exile, avoiding adult responsibilities, and living a life of leisure. Finally Simba is forced to face reality when he is confronted in a vision by his late father, King Mufasa. His father challenges the young lion to take his rightful place as King of the Pridelands with these words: Continue reading
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A farmer, Jeb, and his wife, Mabel, were driving into town in their pickup truck. He was sitting behind the wheel in silence. Eyes focused on the road. Thinking about the work he had to do. Mabel was sitting on the other side of the cab against the door.
It was a beautiful Fall day. The sun was shining. The leaves were changing. And Mabel begin to reminisce about their younger days. How they enjoyed long drives in the country. Special time together. And the intimacy of a young couple in love.
Finally Mabel turned to Jeb and said, “You know when we were younger, we used to sit close together when we went out for a drive.” Continue reading
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A number of years ago Harvard University asked its graduating 1100 Seniors “Is success a destination or a journey?”
930 said it was a destination. They thought it was something you could measure when you had enough money, or achieved a certain fame or position.
What is success? How would you define it? Measure it? Quantify it? Continue reading
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One night a family’s house caught fire and they were forced to run outside. However, the fire blocked their path to the upstairs bedroom where their son was sleeping. The father yelled for the son to open his bedroom window.
On the ground below the boy’s father he knew his son had to jump to save his life. “Jump!” hollered the frantic father, “Jump, I’ll catch you!”
All the frightened little fellow could see, however, was smoke, flames and the darkness of the night. He was scared to jump. Continue reading
Filed under Faith, Word of the Week
Norma Jean and I just returned from a week’s vacation in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City.
While not as high, compared to the Rockies, it was a breath-taking drive up the steep grade to Snowbird. The beautiful views of the sculpted glaciers and the rugged granite cliffs provided a great place for some peaceful R & R for the week. And the cooler temperatures in the 60’s provided a nice break from the summer heat in the 90’s! We even saw some snow one morning a mile up the mountain at Alta! Continue reading
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Shocked. Stunned. Saddened.
These emotions, among others, hit me when I first heard the news of Robin Williams’ death last week. At first, I thought it was an internet hoax. Quickly, it became apparent that it was not only true, but that he committed suicide.
Like so many others I have been entertained by the comedic genius of Robin Williams. While I chose to avoid some of his films because of the language or sexual content, my three favorite were: Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Patch Adams. Continue reading
Filed under Depression, Word of the Week
Five year old Lucas was mischievously aggravating his little brother, Aiden, chasing him all over the house. Running wildly. Screaming. And generally causing havoc. After repeated attempts to quiet the boys down and gentle warnings to “behave yourself,” the frustrated mother had enough.
She picked-up Lucas, put a chair in the corner of the room, and said, “Now sit there and be quiet! You’re in time-out!”
Stubbornly Lucas refused to sit down! After several warnings, she grabbed him up, and sat him down with some authority and demanded: “Now sit there! Or you’re going to get a spanking!” Continue reading
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ThePreachersWord 