Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Hat That Stays Put

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My aged Uncle Mort admitted the other day that he feels like it’s time for him to re-enter the stock market, and this time, “brimming with confidence.” He swore off trying to out-guess the market in the late 1990s. Mort said he lumped all of his investments into “sweet chariot stocks.” I’d never heard

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No Man is an Island

By Jim Nichols It is unfortunate that John Donne in 1624 did not use gender-neutral language, but the power of his short poem remains the same. He is writing about the interconnectedness of humanity and, specifically, the impact of loss. On a high shelf in a spare bedroom, we have several photo albums. If I were to peruse through them

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Important Roles to Play

By Marianne Wood Lily intimidates me. Every time she calls, I feel panic rise in my guts. She will ask me questions I do not comprehend. Falstaff has a lovely, resonant voice but also makes me uncomfortable. This may be because of his deep bass instructions and seemingly great size. I usually understand him, but I shake a little as

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I Was Hungry…

By Danny Minton “On Twelfth Street in the Iris section of Newark, New Jersey, nobody was rich and nobody was poor. The men had blue-collar jobs, and the women stayed home with the children. There were lots of children in the neighborhood, and that was one of the reasons the families knew one another so well. Kids grew up playing

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Interfaith Council Invites Public to a Cafe Conversation

The Abilene Interfaith Council invites the public to a Cafe Conversation on Thursday, Feb. 6. The casual gathering will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Junior League House, 774 Butternut St. Tyler Gurley will lead the conversation on how religious practices impact a person’s view of society. The Abilene Interfaith Council came about in 1999 when three Abilene

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A (Very) Personal Story

By Jim Nichols I cannot believe that I am the only person who feels this way occasionally— “I have no idea what I am doing.” It is not always true, certainly. For years I could walk into a college biology classroom and feel confident about the known science I was about to try to explain to captive students. Occasionally, they

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Another New Year

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Relax. This is NOT going to be another one of those “promise pieces” about helpful resolutions that might elevate life for me in 2025. I leave that to others. In fact, were I to make a New Year’s resolution, it would be the determination to avoid making annual resolutions in the future. My aged

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