The above YouTube video popped up on my Facebook timeline, and I absent-mindedly clicked on it. This innocent act led me on a fascinating adventure. Take a few minutes to listen to the French Family Singers’ version of the 1968 Johnny Cash hit “Daddy Sang Bass.” The first thing I noticed was the obvious joy […]

Old Zeke finally struck it rich. The California Gold Rush began in 1849. The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill led to one of the most rapid migrations in American history over the next few years. Eureka became the name of an early mountain mining town that only existed for a few years, but it […]

I’ve always loved animals — in their place. That’s in the wild. I’ve never gotten attached to a pet, and I’ve never understood pet-lovers.* Sometimes I’ve envied them, because they seem to have discovered a kind of intimate companionship I’ve never known. I guess I’ve diverted all of that to my wife. Poor Judy. Recently, I […]

(This is the Ironing Competition, part of the 1954 Mrs. America Contest.) COMPLEMENTARIANISM: Learn a Big Word; Impress Your Friends. That word didn’t exist until the late 1980s, when a group of (male) Christian theologians created it to put women in their place. That’s right, they actually created the word. Here’s the story. For centuries, […]

Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts. (Psalm 42:7) The whole of Psalm 42 is deep, describing feelings much too heavy for words. It begins with an expression of profound spiritual yearning: As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, […]

Most Christians who are at all familiar with the Bible know that Jesus did a lot of his teaching through using parables, small stories that unveil big truths. Eleven of his parables are recorded in the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Of these eleven, seven are found in one chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, chapter […]

A grumpy old man or a beautiful young woman? I’ve had three separate conversations in the past week in which another person and I had very different impressions of someone we were talking about. We saw what they did or what they said in almost opposite ways because of earlier impressions they had left on […]

So much loss. So many holes where loved ones used to be. We’ve wondered how we can acknowledge all the grieving that people in our ABC congregation are going through because of the COVID disease among us. Some of us have had to settle for a last conversation by phone or FaceTime with someone we’ve […]

What’s the shortest poem in the English language? The generally accepted answer is “Fleas,” by Strickland Gillian (early 20th century). Here it is: Adam Had ’em. You’d think that fleas would not be particularly inspiring to poets, but you’d be wrong. In 1633, John Donne wrote a love poem, entitled The Flea (Click here for […]

I think I was in my sophomore year of college when I took a course in Sociology. This was during a crucial time in my faith journey, when I was having to let go of some of the narrower beliefs I grew up with, as I was seeing things through new eyes of secular reason […]