Devotionals

I had a friend that worked at the police department for several years prior to me.  When I was first hired, I eagerly pelted him with questions about what to expect.  With grace, he endured my enthusiasm but one time, during a pause in the conversation, he said he had something serious to share with me.  He described an “us vs. them” phenomenon that [...]

“House of” is a phrase used to refer to a particular body of people.  Some are legislative, such as the “House of Representatives” in the U.S. or the U.K.’s “House of Lords” and “House of Commons.”  It can take a more personal form when it is applied to a dynasty like the Spanish House of Bourbon, the Austrian House Habsburg or the British House [...]

The 1976 movie “All the President’s Men” is an exposé of the Watergate scandal.  Famously, the final domino to drop in the case against President Nixon was the court ordered release of taped conversations between him and his staffers, family and others.  However, much earlier in the illicit train of dominoes were the findings from an investigation into his fundraising organization.  It’s there that [...]

I’ve enjoyed barbecuing food most of my life.  Like many young married couples, my wife and I started with very little money, but owning a grill was a priority.  For years my original charcoal kettle accompanied us from one apartment to the next.  One day I was walking through the barbecue aisle of a hardware store when I saw a low-end smoker marked down to under fifty [...]

As a matter of course, older generations grumble about the next.  Baby Boomers carried on about Generation X who, in turn, despaired over Millennials, the ones who now bristle at Generation Z.  Each era’s issues bear out differently, but the repeating theme of disapproval seems to fit into the same box—selfish behavior in an overprivileged situation. A modern example of this is what is popularly, though [...]

One of my sons is a skilled drummer, though the early days of his musical education was a challenge to everyone else in the house (and the neighbors).  Over the years, the pitter-patter of fundamental syncopation drills gave way to increasing speed, volume and aggression.  He had to wear headphones to hear what he was accompanying, which meant the rest of us were subjected to the [...]