THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Prayers of university presidents and school superintendents for commencement exercises to be executed as planned often are short-circuited. Some leaders are extremists–the kind who decree that neither blaring air horns nor unseemly yells will be tolerated. Their wish is for “pomp” to be exceeded only by “circumstance.” Often, they experience countless “slips ‘twixt cup
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By NANCY PATRICK There are so many possible answers to that question. A popular song has a great answer: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” I certainly wouldn’t argue with that suggestion. Love can forgive many sins and transgressions and would go a long way toward calming the world’s turbulence. I have given the question a lot
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By JIM NICHOLS At first glance or encounter, a labyrinth seems to be a maze; it is a path with twists and turns seeming to go nowhere. On closer attention, however, one realizes it is a path leading eventually to the center. Their meditative value is that they mimic the varying positions of life, eventually leading to a center of
Read moreState Department officials continued to point to religious freedom atrocities in Russia, China and Afghanistan as they released their annual report on threats to religious liberties across the globe. Read article
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON “How do you tie your shoes?” That’s one of those questions you can go through your entire adult life and never be asked unless it’s by your child. So I’ll ask again, “How do you tie your shoes?” I interlace them once, form a loop with my left hand, and use my right-hand track around the left
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By LORETTA FULTON St. James United Methodist Church will be getting a new pastor this summer, while St. Paul UMC will be getting an associate pastor. The two churches are the only remaining United Methodist congregations in Abilene. Other local congregations have disaffiliated from the UMC and have joined the conservative Global Methodist Church, which launched May 1, 2022. Among
Read moreChurches and libraries have some overlapping roles in society, and the dean of library sciences at Abilene Christian University will talk about that at the May meeting of the Abilene Association of Congregations. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, May 24, at First Central Presbyterian Church. The program is free. A $3
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By JIM NICHOLS We have all been there. We are sitting in a waiting room with both hope and fear. Behind that door is someone we have not met who will make a decision that could change our lives significantly. As an applicant for the job, we chose our clothes carefully. A mentor told me to “. . . dress
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Dilemma horns seemed to gore when I contemplated this week’s piece. I could have ridden (written?) off in either direction and still wound up with words to spare. Would I write about what I miss most–sights or sounds–that now seem permanently closeted in yesteryear? I yearn to ask readers for directions to a place
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Spirit Of Abilene 