Parts of Speaking Publishing

 Vision Driving on a busy highway designed to relieve traffic on a busier one, My glimpse lands on a mound of color in the turning lane ahead. I see a human body. That is not what it is, but what my mind perceives. The envisioned body is wearing a bathing suit, and it is female. It is deceased of course; half of it is legs with pale skin, half is a mix of red and blue and yellow. My heart tightens; my eyes, which need to look elsewhere, are captured. I go under a traffic light and the pile transforms into a towel twisted into some elongated shape, either thrown and dropped from a vehicle. Why did I see a corpse in the way of oncoming cars? Are my eyes failing me? My corrective lenses? My imagination? My expectations? Is it too much true crime television? Who knows? And what if I had seen a human form that metamorphosed into a towel? --- This is more about a concern of aging, not to show my poetic skill. I write one or two (or fewer) poems a year. ...

 As time moves on, people whom we admired, followed, or struggled with pass away. Recently John McArthur died; this week Dr. James Dobson did.  The only way to really eulogize Dr. Dobson, I think, is to see him in context and to be graciously understanding of his support of Donald Trump. It is easy to criticize James Dobson for some of his positions and decisions. Sometimes fame is a burden and influence can be something of a curse.  My Christian experience has heard the music of James Dobson in the background. I listened to his radio program almost daily in the '80s and '90s. We were all taught that Dare to Discipline was a seminal text. Keep in mind that this was the age of Dr. Spock, who supposedly denied discipline of children was needed, and the hippies of the '60s were blamed on him and his progressive views. Today, I don't know how truthful a depiction that is. Dr. Dobson did not advocate spanking so much as discuss its efficacy in some cases. The idea that he w...

 This MAGA-inspired explosion of hatred toward Crack Bar, as a friend calls it (the food can be as addictive for carb lovers) is boggling what is left of my mind.  I started going to Cracker Barrels in the 1970s. I was on a competing speech team that traveled to colleges in Tennessee and Kentucky, and we celebrated by stopping at Cracker Barrel on the way back. Our coaches loved it. We loved it. Since them, living in the mid-South (i.e., Chattanooga area) meant regular visits. It is part of life.  Does anyone remember that the logo used to NOT have the old man on it? Does anyone remember the hillbilly-font-and-spelling style menus?  Does anyone remember when they got in trouble for not seating African Americans "in a timely manner?" or from not hiring gays? (probably using AIDS as excuse? Both of these were back in the early 1990s.  I personally cut back on my Cracker Barrel visits when they started to sell alcohol. It just didn't set right with me--did they rea...

Our pastor asked me to be in a small study group that he runs to help him prepare for his weekly sermon. We met last week. I loved it. We returned the second night ready for more. The passages are in Genesis 37 and following, abou t Joseph. We skipped 38 for now, and covered 37 and 39. Most of us know the outlines of Joseph’s narrative: brothers hate him, father’s darling, sold into slavery by his jealous siblings, dreams, blamed for a seducing wife, becoming a leader in Egypt, saving the country from famine, finally reunited with his family. But there is more. There is a story of humanity. The brothers’ hatred is not just a plot device. Joseph is not just a little tattle tale 17-year-old with a regal tunic. We had one discussion so far, and I know there are so many details here. For example, his brothers had gone to Dothan. It was 50 miles from where they were supposed to be, in S h echem. Good grief. They probably were hiding something from their father. Jacob is deceiv...

 Although he occasionally disappoints me, Russell Moore is still the man.  His latest column on what he has learned in 30 years of ministry.  https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/08/30-things-learned-30-years-ministry-russell-moore/ I like #26:   Pay attention to what’s not talked about. The rest I agree with.  I am attending a study with the pastor on Joseph as he prepares for his sermon. He is open and asks good questions, and I believe we are free to speak our thoughts about the chapter. Last night's was about Joseph's time in Potiphar's domain and his personal #metoo moment, perhaps in reverse. I may do a longer study on seeing the gospel in Joseph. Joseph seems like a paragon of virtue, but he is a trophy of grace. There is no real reason he should have so much integrity except he had a personal encounter with God that we don't have a record of, although Genesis 35 may be the answer. 

  Just so we know how sincere Putin is about ending the war with Ukraine-- (from the Dispatch ) Hours before the White House meeting, Russia  launched ballistic  missiles and military drones into Ukraine in an overnight aerial attack that  killed 14  civilians, including at least three children, and injured more than a dozen others. “Russians are deliberately killing people, particularly children,” Zelensky  wrote on X , noting that  Russia targets  residential buildings and other civilian sites. The attacks killed seven people in the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv,  including an  entire family with two children. From the Atlantic , a brilliant essay on AI's delusional promise Lately, I’ve been preoccupied with a different question: What if generative AI isn’t God in the machine  or  vaporware? What if it’s just good enough, useful to many without being revolutionary? Right now, the models don’t think—they predict and arra...

It's time to just say no to the digital world (she says on her blog) https://thedispatch.com/article/social-media-children-dating-neurotic/   Maybe not no, but definitely think before you click. Think a lot.