THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It’s no longer likely that many sons and daughters will enter their parents’ professions. There are exceptions, of course. Seventy-six-year-old Harold Barton is one, son of the late Sonny Barton, who opened his downtown Fort Worth business in 1949, then re-located Barton’s Garage in 1963 to its current location. It could hardly be more obscure–1615
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By the NumbersJan. 1-May 10, 2026700–Families served1,129–Nights of lodging ($250,000 equivalent hotel costs) Since 2018Nights provided:14,145–Tiny Houses1,257–League House1,044–Hotel 201–Salvation Army Houses for Healing InfoLocation: 3065 Hickory St., Abilene, TX 79601Mailing Address: Box 2320, Abilene, TX 79604325-673-4673 https://housesforhealing.com/Click here to donate. By Loretta Fulton “It Takes a Village to Create a Village” That might well be the unofficial motto of Houses For Healing,
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George Levesque, executive director of the Paramount Theater, will be guest speaker at the May 27 meeting of the Abilene Association of Congregations. This will be one of Levesque’s last public presentations before he and his family move to Tampa, Florida, where Levesque will become president and CEO of the Tampa Theater. The public is invited to the luncheon meeting
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By Nancy Patrick We often think of lives as chapters of a book. Our parents document the early years for us in baby books and school milestone mementos. We feign embarrassment and roll our eyes at them, but our own day of reasoning arrives sooner than we expect. Mike and I married at ages eighteen and twenty and have been
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By Jim Nichols Do you get tired of having to make choices? We do not want our life to be completely determined for us, but having to choose everything wears us out. At Hogwarts Academy, at least one major decision was made for the students. You will remember there was a Sorting Hat that identified which one of the four
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By Danny Minton AI is the most talked-about concept in the world of knowledge development right now. However, even AI has its limits. I recently decided to test Google’s AI knowledge database. Granted, it’s not the most sophisticated database, but for my needs it served its purpose. I started with the question, “Where did the world come from?” I would
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Persons claiming to have the same mental faculties and physical capabilities that they had a half-century ago probably fib about other things, too. Some formerly judged such jokers to be guilty of committing “terminological inexactitudes,” a term far kinder than “bald-faced liars!” Most readers identify with old age and have heard the oft-told jokes about
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(Editor’s Note: Carlyn Ray created Gathered Radiance, the new installation in the Abilene Heritage Square Library. She writes about the spiritual aspect of creating art, especially in community.) By Carlyn Ray One of the reasons I am drawn to glass is because it brings me into the light. It teaches me to listen to my inner voice and to what
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By Glenn Dromgoole Former Abilenian Dr. Leonard Allen, dean of the College of Bible and Ministry at Lipscomb University in Nashville, is co-author with John Mark Hicks of A Wild Democracy, the first in a planned three-volume history of the Churches of Christ in the 20th Century. The book, published by Abilene Christian University Press (192 pages, $19.99 paperback), covers the period
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Spirit Of Abilene 