IDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury Let’s make a worldwide observation. Man’s “inhumanity to man” has been chronicled–as well as played out, unfortunately–across the centuries. (Hey, now. I’m writing in broadest terms that likewise include women, too. They’ve worked right alongside, and often ahead, but that’s a whole ‘nuther story.) In these uncertain days when calendar pages seem to
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON Jake Deshazer walked through the door of the community center in Nagoya, Japan, in the spring of 1950. As he passed through the entrance, a young Japanese woman wearing a yellow kimono greeted him. Amayo bowed before Jake with a warm welcome and a smile. He was met by 50 or 60 more people who then wanted
Read moreBy JIM NICHOLS The newspaper, radio, and television headlines speak about returning to normal when this pandemic wanes. It is worth asking what this means. What is the definition of “normal”? One of the curious aspects of the early Genesis stories is that God tells Adam to “name” all the other creatures. A reasonable explanation is to understand this was
Read moreBy MARIANNE WOOD Obituaries, often called simply, “obits,” offer readers a rich trove of stories. But their main purpose, providing family and friends a way to publicly honor a departed loved one with a quick depiction of a person’s life, usually features a photo and three to many paragraphs of biographical information. These brief to ponderously long works of non-fiction
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By LORETTA FULTON Good leaders get ahead of the game as soon as an opportunity arises, or even begins to emerge. And that is exactly what the leaders-in-training at ACU’s Lytle Center for Faith and Leadership did when “coronavirus” and “COVID-19” first emerged in our vocabulary. As soon as that happened, students put on their thinking caps and came up
Read moreChristian Service Center, 3185 N. Tenth St., continues to serve during this time of social distancing and sheltering in place. The center’s director, Jim Clark, announced the following changes in an email. CSC is providing basic needs on: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. “We ask our neighbors to call and place their food orders or emergency
Read moreCATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SAN ANGELO For the sake of the service of the people of God in the Diocese of San Angelo, Bishop Michael Sis announces the following changes of assignment of clergy effective July 1, 2020: Rev. Joshua Gray as Parochial Vicar of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Odessa Rev. Timothy Hayter as Parochial Vicar of St. Ann in
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON I remember a story from my childhood about a magic ice cream bowl. Some of the facts are vague, but the moral of the story has remained with me over the years. There was this young boy and his mother, who had helped a person with magical powers. They were poor and could barely take care of
Read moreIDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury If bodies grew weary of exercising, two of my friends–Dr. Lanny Hall in Abilene and Katheleene Green in Burleson–would be too sore to stand up. Truth to tell, Katheleene has been a devotee to physical exercise much longer. She attains age 100 come July 18. Dr. Hall, three decades her junior, has never
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Spirit Of Abilene 