By Nancy Patrick I have decided that watching news programming on television, listening to podcasts, and creating blogs may contribute negatively to my mental health. I actually have friends who limit news time on television to thirty minutes per day to avoid overdosing on the information about world’s tragedies and atrocities. Of course, podcasts and blogs typically focus on the

By Nancy Patrick Progressive Insurance Company spends a lot of money on marketing. I have to admit I find some of the advertisements fascinating. The company’s choice of actress Stephanie Courtney to portray the sales representative Flo was a mark of genius.  Courtney has played the marketing character since 2008 and shows no sign of disappearing anytime soon. As much

By Nancy Patrick Have you ever felt so full of competing emotions that your brain, heart, and gut could not sort them out for labeling purposes? I find myself in that commingled state as I write this article. We like to think that we can bounce back to our former selves after any bad decision we make—that we can receive

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