By Jim Nichols Who knows what the true trigger is? A person might be reading a book and the sensation starts. Perhaps a long-lost photograph falls from an old magazine where it was stuck for decades. Maybe a movie or television show touches on something you thought you had buried in your personal history and therefore successfully forgotten. Regardless of
Read more
By Marianne Wood The gifts of the magi, the gifts of the spirit, the gifts we give for birthdays, holidays, and all sorts of celebrations vary greatly. At this time of year, my news and social media feeds are full of recommendations, from books to groceries. The Trader Joe advertisement sucked me in today. So many things to try like
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury If all the COVID-19 stories were laid end to end and submerged, it might be a good thing. Most of us think of this acronym (Corona Virus Disease-2019) in negative terms. However, just as some first century Christians wondered if anything good could come out of Nazareth, surely Jesus smiled and cut them much slack.
Read more
It was Christmas Eve. I was at the office late, putting out the Christmas Day edition at the newspaper where I worked. Everyone else had gone, save one or two other souls who were printing the paper. A woman appeared at the door, desperate. She had just driven back into town after spending the past week with her husband, who
Read more
By Jim Nichols As the American Christmas season nears, positive images are beginning to surround us. Memorable music, aromas, colorful lights, perfectly prepared special foods—we each have our favorite aspects. In many ways, it is a wonderful time. A friend once proposed to me that he thought the incarnation, not the resurrection, was the fundamental activity of Christianity. He defended
Read more
By Danny Minton “I believe in the sun, though it be dark.I believe in God, though He be silent.I believe in neighborly love, though it be unable to reveal itself.” Beneath the old buildings of Cologne, Germany, Catholic Scouts discovered unused passageways. When the German Gestapo was moving “undesirables” from the streets of the cities, many Jewish families fled to
Read more
What Christmas is about can be said in two words.Love triumphs.The story of Jesus, whose birth we celebrate, is about that very simple message.Loving is better than hating.Hate destroys. Love builds.Hate divides. Love unites.Hate produces enemies out of friends. Love produces friends out of enemies.Hate arouses suspicion. Love offers forgiveness.Jesus came to say, “There is a better way to live.
Read more
By Loretta Fulton Bishop Michael Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo will preside over a Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Midland at 7 a.m. Dec. 12, which is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Later that day, he will be at St. Vincent Pallotti Church in Abilene for the diaconal ordination of Humberto Diaz
Read more
By Loretta Fulton December is filled with religious observances, including Christmas, the best known locally. Although Abilene has a small representation of religions other than Christianity, some of the following observances are celebrated in private homes. Some holy days are fixed, like Christmas always falls on Dec. 25. Other religions are lunar based, meaning their observances fall on different dates
Read more
Spirit Of Abilene 