THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury In 1845, poetess Elizabeth Barrett tried to count the ways she loved Robert Browning, her suitor and eventual husband. Her heralded message came through with clarity in her poem, “How Do I Love Thee?” Recollection of her counting came to mind in recent days during my attempts to count the ways broadcast journalists have
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By JIM NICHOLS The four males were clearly trying to impress one another—or at least three of them were. “I like to play baseball,” said one. “It has such a long history, and everyone plays it at some time in their life. Developing the skills and strength to ‘hit a round ball with a round bat and hit it squarely’
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Editor’s Note: McMurry University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, which is undergoing a significant change. The Global Methodist Church, a more conservative branch of Methodism, launched on May 1, 2022. Some congregations, including many of those in the Northwest Annual Conference, are expected to leave the United Methodist Church for the new denomination. Following is a Q&A with
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK I entitled my last article “A Good Place,” generally referring to times in our lives that we might label as good, better, or best. Obviously, those adjectives cover a wide range of options that could relate to age, health, financial stability, localities, social issues, political, or even spiritual conditions. That title specifically referred to an upcoming spinal
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By JIM NICHOLS The question jumped out of the page to me: “How did faith and medical science become, for some people, mutually exclusive?” The question should be broadened to ask how, for some people, did faith and science itself become mutually exclusive, even antagonistic? We could point back to Darwin as a possible instigator. People of many faiths have
Read moreCarson Reed usually is slow to use the word “crisis” to describe a situation, “but it may well be apt for our day,” he writes in the Mosaic blog hosted by the Siburt Institute for Church Ministry, where he serves as director. “In addition to the many churches that are in decline, something else that we are observing is a
Read moreBy MARIANNE WOOD Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Covid shut down a lot of that “meeting together.” We are
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON In 1895 a poet named Mary T. Lathrop penned a poem she called “Judge Softly.” The theme of the stanzas has been repeated in many forms over the years, using different words but having the general meaning. She begins her poem with the following lines. Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,Or stumbles along the
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It’s an expression rarely heard these days, perhaps because there are so many lenses through which life-in-a-hurry can be viewed. When’s the last time you heard, “I saw it with my own eyes”? I never expected to see gambling interests advertising on TV sports or promotion of something called bitcoins. I’ve avoided pitches from
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Spirit Of Abilene 