PARENTHOOD Parenthood’s a mirror Revealing all your flaws You try to repress them A rebel with a cause But it does not work, it cannot work Because despite it all Those flaws just keep appearing Like writing on a wall. So, you divert attention To things you do quite well To avoid listening to the voice That has that truth to tell You revel in successes That don’t involve your child You ignore their plaintive calling... Read more
Certainly one of the most beautiful and challenging golf courses in the world is the Players Club in Florida, home of the Players Championship each year, which brings most of the top golfers to Ponte Vedre. My sister Laura got us tickets to go on a nice sunny, 65F degree day and we set out early in the morning to go see the play. It had been at least 60 years since I went with my father to the GGO,... Read more
Though many Christians including many Protestants have ignored the literally millions of Protestants who are Christian pacifists, and even considered them anti-American, their tribes keep increasing. There are whole denominations of them— various kinds of Old and New order Amish, and various sorts of Mennonites, and Brethren and Quakers as well. And scattered among the many other more familiar Protestant denominations are quite a few as well. An interesting read of related matters can be found in the book Moral... Read more
St. Augustine is a city that has become something of a tourist trap, especially in its old downtown area. While we were there, there was a biker convention with bikers from everywhere showing up which created a major parking problem. You would hardly know it was the oldest city in the U.S. (1565– the Spanish showed up). The honky tonk downtown was in full swing while we were there, featuring some decidedly non-Spanish food And some reminders of a past... Read more
It’s an unassuming place, a peach and pecan farm on the edge of Americus Georgia not far from Plains. Here’s my friend Mark Magoni who kindly took me to Plains and Americus in his pickup truck. He’s a Methodist pastor in Macon Ga. If you know anything about this place you know about Clarence Jordan’s Cottonpatch Gospel which was later made into a play, with music and lyrics by the great Harry Chapin and created quite a stir. Jordan (1912-1969)... Read more
It was a bucket list thing. I had always wanted to visit Plains Georgia, the home of President Jimmy Carter. Sadly, I did not get there until he was already in Hospice care last month with TV crews hanging around like vultures, waiting for him to die. Jimmy Carter, as many have said, has been the best ex-President we’ve ever had. Not only has the Carter Center been at the center of negotiating all sorts of conflict resolutions, something for... Read more
I’m not a fan of Florida beaches in general. For one thing, the beaches on the gulf, while they may have nice sand, are not beaches on the ocean. Most of the time the Gulf is just a big hot tub— no real waves and so no body surfing or board surfing either. Boring. For another thing its much too hot in the middle of the summer to really enjoy the beach. For a third thing, the erosion on the... Read more
John Grisham is clearly the king of American legal thrillers. He has no equals. Returning once more to his home state of Mississippi which he knows so well (though he has lived in Charlottesville Va. for many years), Grisham shines a light on the seamy underbelly of the Dixie Mafia located along the coast. In some ways this novel reminds me when I was young and used to pull up the colorful plastic doormat on the front porch, only to... Read more
The real Jesus Revolution happened in A.D. 30 when Jesus rose from the dead, and changed all of subsequent world history, including the history of Western Europe and then America. But this movie helpfully chronicles the story of Calvary Church (home of the early Christian band Love Song with Chuck Girard, a band I loved in the 70s), and how it became the Mecca for the hippies who were turning to Christ. The movie is well done, and if that... Read more
There are all sorts of beasts at the Jacksonville zoo, including faux beasts…. like this, made out of ancient cellphones no less. The baby giraffe said he wanted a cookie, but instead he got a lettuce leaf—- boring! Most of the animals were pretty sedentary, except of course the otters at feeding time who were going nuts, swimming jumping up towards the feeder etc. A complete contrast to the capybara who was just slowly munching away. This reminded me... Read more
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