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The Tiny Crutches
When I was four years old, I was playing with some other children outside on a snowy day. What fun it was to play “follow the leader.” I was pretty small but thought I was as big as all of the other kids. When they jumped over an obstacle, I did the same thing. When they circled a tree, I did the same thing. When they climbed up on an old tree stump with a huge crack in the middle of it, I did the same thing…well, almost the same thing. They all jumped off on the other side of the stump, but I had on rubber boots, and when I jumped,…
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Gratitude…With Your Eyes Open
My favorite holiday is next week. Thanksgiving means a lot to me. Having kids, I like Christmas a lot, but Thanksgiving has been my favorite for a long time. (I not-so-jokingly call it “Christmas without the pressure!”) During this time of year, a lot of attention is given to gratitude. It is hard to scroll through social media, hear sermons, or do other things without someone eventually talking about how we should be grateful all the time. Certainly that is true, but it is also true that, at times, we need a little help. In our recent Gospel Meeting at Central, brother Hiram Kemp made a statement about gratitude that…
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Something Worse Than “The Bystander Effect”
I’m not usually in the habit of reproducing material from other sources here, but I’m making an exception this time. Most of what you will read below is from Quora Digest. I will add an application that I thought of as I read their material after I have reproduced what I read. ===== March 13, 1964. 3 a.m Catherine’s friends called her Kitty. She was young, just twenty-eight, and petite. Tiny really. And on this particular night, she was screaming for her life, as loudly as she could. After all, there were people all around. Someone would have to hear her. Right? Her shouts went on for thirty minutes, as her…
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The Most Important Vote Anyone Made on Tuesday
Before getting to my point, let me start with two things that today’s article is not meant to say. First, this post is not meant to say that politics are not important. They absolutely are. And I am a political nerd. I am very quiet about who I vote for, but I love the ins and outs of elections, even going so far as to think about how people in counties in other states will vote. Second, this post is not meant to be some holier-than-thou over-spiritualization type article. Instead, it is meant to cause us all to think about one simple thing. I hope it is read with that…
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Still Here, But Forgotten
We see it on tombstones, accompanying picture of loved ones, on cards expressing sympathy, etc.: Gone, but not forgotten Most of us can relate to this. In fact, I think that it would be difficult to find very many people who have lost somebody close to them, but who don’t continue to have memories of them. I am one of those fortunate ones for whom those memories are pleasant. The pain of losing family members and friends is tempered by the good times we were able to share. Since there is apparently not as much fear of personal interaction due to various strains of Covid, I’ve been trying to get back to doing…
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Why I’m Voting “Yes” Next Tuesday
One thing about our site that you may have noticed through the years is that we do not talk about political candidates or parties (except to mention both sides of an issue). We do not share how we are going to vote or how we did vote in elections for President, Senate, or any other position. However, next Tuesday in my home state of Kentucky, there is a vote–not for a candidate or an office–that is one of the most important votes I will ever cast in my lifetime. It is one that I have prayed to have the opportunity to vote on since I was able to vote. In…
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Vote For Me and I Will…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for quite a while, you probably know that various elections for political offices are just a little over a week away. There is absolutely no way of knowing how much time and effort has gone into trying to persuade voters to cast a ballot for this or that candidate, this or that proposition, this or that amendment, etc. According to one report I read, 9.3 billion dollars will be spent in this “election cycle” in an effort to garner votes. According to that same report, that staggering figure is the amount spent only on elections for offices on the federal level. It does not include the…
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Lord, Give Us Strength
Let me say, right from the start, that this is not my usual, light-hearted attempt at encouragement. This article is being written while in a place of struggle and, as of the writing, I don’t know the outcome. But I do know this: Satan is at war for souls, including our children’s souls. He has many tools and resources that he uses to ensnare our thoughts and hearts. As much as he attacks us, sometimes I wonder if he isn’t after our children even more. After all, if he can get them young and then make them feel unworthy enough, they are much easier to keep down. And they haven’t…
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6 Simple Things to Do When You Don’t Feel a “Part” of the Church
I love Central. If you have not figured that out from my posts here or on social media, you haven’t been paying attention. It really is a family, and it lifts my heart each time I am with any person or group from Central. But, no matter where you are, you may not feel connected. Someone (or a few someones) nearly anywhere will struggle to feel a part of things. If that’s you, this article is for you. Now, let me say from the outset: not everyone will feel as connected as everyone else all the time. Some of this is personality-driven. Some might have to do with where you…
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The Other Harry Truman
Those of us who have taken almost any class about the history of The United States surely recognize that one of our presidents was Harry S Truman. We may or may not know that he became president when Franklin Roosevelt died and that he upset the candidate for president that “conventional wisdom” thought would win the election of 1948, but we at least recognize his name. Recent events have caused me to remember another Harry Truman — Harry R. Truman. The news about Hurricane Ian brought him back into my mind. It had been forty-two years since I first heard about this Harry Truman. I’ll admit that I had to do a little digging…
