A middle-aged man in South Carolina was recently pulled over after he exhibited driving behavior that appeared to show he was intoxicated. He was, to say the least, as police found 10 partially-drunk cans of beer in his car, including one between his legs. But the 49-year-old man tried to figure out a quick way to make it look as if he was not intoxicated before the officers approached his car. His solution? He sprayed Axe body spray… …in his mouth. When I came across that story, I smiled a little bit and I shook my head. How could anyone be so dumb as to think that spraying body spray,…

When the phone rang, Donna immediately recognized the name. The caller and her family used to worship with our family years ago. Neither family lives in that location now. Both families moved over thirty years ago. As a result, we don’t see each other as often as we used to. Our friendship seems to be one of those unaffected by time and/or geography. The caller and her husband are the kind of people with whom we can sort of “pick up where we left off” on those occasions when we do have the opportunity to be together. When we did worship together, our children were just that – children. Obviously,…

It is definitely time for spring break. This has been a hard couple of weeks at the school. At the end of an irregular 9 weeks, disrupted by flooding and frigid temperatures, everyone is ready for a break. But I had a moment with a student last week that helped recenter me. I knew this young man had been struggling for a couple of days but I couldn’t get through to him to figure out why. Finally, we had a break through. I looked over and big tear drops were splashing on the table. I took him to a quiet space and he finally admitted that he was nervous. When…

I grew up living three blocks from the Ohio River in the little town of Metropolis, Illinois. Those of you who know me know that I now live in Paducah, Kentucky (just seven miles from Metropolis). Our little city is located on the banks of the Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers. We are just upstream from the point where the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers converge, so to say that I have lived most of my life around rivers would be an understatement. Flooding of those rivers has also been a big part of my life. I remember distinctly the times when the river would rise and begin to come…

As our world devolves into more depravity, what amuses us or gives us a thrill not only gets more depraved, it also gets cheaper. (Need proof? Look no further than the explosion of pornography and how it provides that “thrill” for millions.) But there is another cheap thrill that has been around for centuries, and each time it is found, it is awful, destructive, and insidious. Yet…it keeps going. It is the cheap thrill of gossip. Think for a moment. What could be cheaper than tearing down someone who is not present only to make (1) them look worse, and/or (2) you look better? It’s cheap because it is taking…

Who watched the Grammys this past Sunday night? Not me! I have no desire to watch them. I won’t watch the Oscars either, or any other Hollywood award show of any kind for that matter. You know why? Because they aren’t what they were (I’m not saying they were ever wonderful). There was a time in America when we would watch movies or listen to music and then see who won the awards at the end of the year just for fun. The “stars” weren’t ever perfect morally but they at least they weren’t so abrasive and political. Now I can’t watch at all and still feel like I know…