By Nancy Patrick The new buzz term we hear every day now is “artificial intelligence” or “AI” for short.  I think in some ways these words form an oxymoron, a seemingly contradictory term that, nevertheless, expresses a truth. For example, parents may say, and mean it, “My children are my most precious burdens.” Any parent knows what that means. Life

By Nancy Patrick In October, 2023, I wrote an article about the Hebrew term timshel (https://spiritofabilene.com/2023/10/13/prayer-for-timshel/). My interest in the concept began with my reading of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden last fall. My first reading of the novel took several weeks because of an its length and the dense language. Steinbeck develops several pairs of characters that serve as

By Nancy Patrick Many things can fall—snow in avalanches, rocks on a mountain, water over a sudden drop in a river bed, and even people. People can actually fall both physically and morally. We all know the story of the fall of humanity reported in Genesis. This type of moral fall can result in loss of reputation, relationship, financial stability,

By Nancy Patrick Isn’t it amazing how our views of birthdays change as we climb (or limp) up the age ladder? In childhood, I remember thinking that if my parents hadn’t waited three years to have me, I could match the ages of my older cousins. Then in adolescence, I counted days waiting for important birthdays: at fourteen I could

By Nancy Patrick As children grow up, their parents instruct them in certain social rules of acceptable behavior. I remember my parents’ teaching me to say “ma’am” and “sir” when addressing my elders. I also learned quickly that any sassy response from me was unacceptable. You can all recall the “dos” and “don’ts” your parents taught you. I call the

By NANCY PATRICK Living in today’s world seems more difficult than living in other historical times. Logic, however, defies that assessment. I think most of us tend to see our own world as the only one of relevance or importance; however, if we reflect on world history, we see that moral, political, religious, military, and cultural conflicts have filled the

By Nancy Patrick I do not spend the entire month of December watching Christmas movies, but I do enjoy an occasional sit-down with a classic holiday story. One of those is Home Alone 2 (1992), the successful sequel to the hilarious Home Alone (1990). As implied by the titles, the movies tell the hugely exaggerated stories of a little boy

By NANCY PATRICK The fall season can summon various emotions; some are happy emotions while others reflect darker, threatening fears of an uncertain future. I confess that many of the world’s crises have stirred those more somber feelings in my own heart. Brandon Hudson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Abilene, recently provided small notebooks to his congregants, encouraging us

By NANCY PATRICK I have written before about my brain’s inability to relax. I think a lot about the ironies, complexities, injustices, and undecipherable events of life. You know the kinds of things to which I refer—family of origin, nationality, race, intelligence, opportunity, and gender. Because a greater power than humanity has determined these factors, we can never know answers.