I remember it hung on a doorknob. My parents believed in corporal punishment. They thought the Bible taught it, and they believed and practiced the Bible’s teachings as they understood them. They never abused me,
Read moreTag: Martin Wiles
Seeing Beyond the Obvious
What I saw didn’t always match reality. I saw the Facebook post. The daughter of a friend I had known for more than thirty years informed her Facebook friends that her mom had contracted Covid
Read morePutting on the New
After twenty-seven years, he took off his prison garb and walked out a free man. Nelson Mandela, a lawyer who joined the African National Council (ANC) in 1944, became the national president of the organization
Read moreThe Stripping
The bushes, once loaded, had been stripped. For the first time in a long time, I had a large garden plot that produced well. When the spring crops finished, I planted purple hull peas. I
Read moreThe Need of Sabbath
I told them the story and watched confusion cross their faces. One thing I love about teaching middle schoolers entails telling them stories about how things were when I was their age. When I was
Read moreWhen Christmas Mixes with Sorrow
“Can you think of anything we can sell?” I asked my wife. “The only thing I can think of,” she responded, is my…” Christmas 2013 was shaping up to be the leanest Christmas season my
Read moreGratefulness Through the Seasons
Only two remained. As I sat on my old antique porch glider, I watched as two hummingbirds fought over the lone feeder, hanging just outside my den window. Just a few days before, I had
Read moreLeading for the Common Good
Leaders lead for the common good, but what exactly is that? Not long after I moved to a small town, an election year approached. One of the town councilmen chose not to run for re-election,
Read moreFall Back, Not Under
Germany and its World War I Allies began the practice on April 30, 1916, to conserve energy and daylight. America soon followed suit. When I was a child, I relished the extra daylight hours Daylight
Read moreWaiting…Not Patiently
I placed the order…and then waited. What else could I do? What I did do was mark my calendar four weeks into the future. I wouldn’t get impatient until then. Since deliveries of most things
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