I  am writing these words from our house. Donna and I left Kentucky a few days ago because we were needed elsewhere and have returned. Our governor has those who leave the state and return to “self quarantine” for fourteen days. We are doing our best to comply.   As has been the case with almost everybody else, we have heard and read multiple reports, discussions, etc. about the CoronaVirus. What some have called “an unseen enemy” has had a major impact on the whole world. It has had an impact on how we worship, purchase products, socialize, travel, and a host of other things.   I remember hearing one of the discussions about this pandemic…

This has been one of the most interesting (and often unpleasant) times in my life. I have no memory of ever living through a pandemic. From what the news says, maybe I have and just didn’t know it because we weren’t directed to “shelter in place” like we have been for the last four to five weeks. I’ve learned some things about myself and thought they might be interesting to share. You might like to make a list of your own. When these restrictions are lifted, I plan to look at my list on occasion to see how well I am doing with remembering what I learned. Here are just five of the…

Who do you try to comfort when you visit a funeral home or attend a funeral service? For whom do you pray?   I’m sure that most of us would say that we pray for the spouse, the parents, the children, other family members, and very close friends of the deceased. We know that they are hurting. We know that they are going through a very difficult time.   We search for the right words. We certainly do not want to say the wrong thing. We try to think of ways to help. We absolutely do not want to do something that would make matters worse for them.   Even if we cannot come up with what…

“The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.” Annie, an orphan, sang these words in the 1982 movie by the same name – Annie. She sang them while she was living in an orphanage with a monster of a head mistress – Miss Hannigan. What prompted her sunny attitude was the belief that she had been left at the orphanage by mistake. It’s a great movie about a little girl with a positive attitude and how deeply ingrained her belief is that better days are ahead. Many of us have been quarantined for quite a number of days and some of those days have been cloudy and rainy…

Most of us have heard the old adage that goes something like this: Figures can’t lie, but liars can figure. I guess that this is supposed to encourage us to be discerning when we hear and/or read about various statistics. On one hand, the statistics we are looking at may be totally factual. On the other hand, somebody may be trying to twist or “interpret” them because they have an agenda. Some statistics are, indeed, “just the facts.” Things like physical distances, population numbers, and a host of other things are just what they are. There doesn’t need to be any interpretation, explanation, analysis, etc. However, when it comes to other matters, the…

What in the world would George Jones and Warren Buffett have in common? A country singer who some called “Possum” and a wealthy investor looked upon by many as “The Oracle of Omaha” probably appear to be from two very different worlds, but one of the singer’s old songs and recent news about the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway actually do have something in common. In 1985, Jones recorded “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” The song basically raises the question about where the next generation of country music stars will come from. On February 22nd of this year, Mr. Buffett’s annual letter to the investors of Berkshire Hathaway addressed his age and the…

That’s what it was. It seemingly came from nowhere. There had been no mention of TORCON ratings, and no frenzied weather people had been on the air for hours. People were sleeping peacefully in their beds when it hit. Of course I am talking about the tornado that hit my beloved town just a couple of weeks ago. People I know personally were impacted either through home damage or losing loved ones. Those of us who live on the other side of town are both grateful and, at the same time, feel almost guilty for the fact that we had no loss. Through all of this, my main prayer has…