Cultural Commentary
As I see things …
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The Best Books Reveal How People Think
The Summer Before the War tells a story that takes place in “The town of Rye . . .” (first line of the novel), a real place in the county of Sussex, England. Carefully researched, the idyllic coastal region contrasts not only the losses of WWI (World War I), but chronicles the end of an era––or rather the beginning of the end of an era––where class distinction slowly disintegrates under the weight of its own hubris. “Here’s to taking the future at a run.” Helen Simonson, The Summer Before the War, Acknowledgements The above quote is the last statement in the author’s note to recognize the contributions of others who…
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In God We Trust, or Government?
I took this picture at the concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. All but a couple of the barracks are gone, leaving open ground where during World War II prisoners were housed in the most grim and grisly conditions while being starved and worked to death. I could never fathom how such a thing as gas chambers disguised as showers could be used to exterminate people. People were unsuspecting because such things were inconceivable until after the war when survivors told their stories. Furnaces burned the bodies’ remains. Civics 101 One observation I have made following the recent political shenanigans and now on the heels of riots and national upheaval is…
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The Tipping Point of Change
Consider how much the world changed between 1946 when George Orwell wrote 1984 and today. Written when the date itself was a far-off projection into a science-fiction future, 1984 is no longer science or fiction. The year 1984 is history. If you have been alive since 1984, you have lived during an accelerated period of history. Depending on how you might view it, more changes worldwide have occurred since 1984 than perhaps all of recorded history before that date. World population has more than doubled since 1974, despite declining birth rates unmatched by death rates. Between the years 1946 and 1984, in America, the 1960’s and 1970’s formed a watershed…
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How to Read Through the Psalms in 30 Days
“Other books of the Bible speak to us. The Psalms speak for us.” adapted from St. Athanasius, 4th Century Church Father (This is a repost from a year ago. Still reading the Psalms . . .) Whenever I don’t know what to read in the Bible, I read the Psalms. In the midst of our shared national crisis, even if you want to read the Bible, where do you start? It’s daunting to pick up the Bible and know where to begin. The Bible contains 66 different books, and almost 1,500 chapters. Unless a person follows a reading plan or participates in a method Bible study, how can any reader…
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Rush Limbaugh Leaves Open Airwaves and Empty Spaces
Driving home from his son’s first baseball game of this season, my Houston son asked me, “What did you think when Rush Limbaugh died?” I turned the question back to him before sharing my thoughts. “I thought about Pawpaw,” he said. “So did I.” Thoughts about my father-in-law, his grandfather, revolved around listening to Rush. After lunch, J.D. would lie down on the towel-covered blue brocade sofa, readying himself to listen on his BOSE radio to Rush broadcasting from the EIB (Excellence in Broadcasting) network. Rush’s voice filled the airwaves with political and cultural commentary and my father-in-law ate those words for dessert. From the early years, Rush came across…
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Lukewarm and What’s Wrong with Middle of the Road?
If you are a coffee drinker, you know that reaction when taking a sip of cooled coffee. You have to decide whether to force yourself to swallow, or spit lukewarm coffee back into the cup. I once heard the eminent preacher Vance Havner say that when a waitress offers to warm up his coffee, he tells her No. “Pour out this cup of coffee and then refill my cup with hot coffee. I don’t want Laodicean coffee.” Any self-respecting server would oblige, but not every person would understand why Vance Havner said this. In a message to a church in Charlotte, North Carolina where my husband and I were members…
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Risk-Averse Americans and How Fear Makes Captives of Us All
“When did Americans become risk averse?” Hearing a college professor from Georgia ask that question corresponds to questions I have asked myself. Maybe you too wonder about how Americans have responded to crises throughout the past year. In speaking, he noted the pioneers who first settled this country. And the ones who fought in the Revolutionary War. By extension, the professor could point to every war that cost Americans sacrifices and involved taking risks, including The Civil War, The Depression, the 1918 pandemic, and a host of other threats Americans have had to face in the past 300 years. Storms, natural disasters, and diseases and accidents present risks inherent in…