There are three statewide proposals for constitutional amendments in Michigan on the November 2022 ballot. Here is the language, copied verbatim, from a sample ballot. Personally, I’m ambivalent on the first, but strongly opposed to the second and vehemently opposed to the third. Proposal 22-1 A proposal to amend the state constitution to require annual…
Living by Faith on the Son of God
A hymn from The Psalmist, #536, written by Philip Doddridge. BLEST Jesus, while in mortal fleshI hold my frail abode,Still would my spirit rest on thee,My Saviour and my God. On thy dear cross I fix my eyes,Then raise them to thy seat;Till love dissolves my inmost soul,At my Redeemer’s feet. Be dead, my heart,…
Actively Seek Peace, Pursue Peace, Live Peaceably
Does the world seem angry to you? Do you wonder why we’re so argumentative, fighting at the drop of a hat? Why is it so easy to respond angrily to anything? It seems that if someone has the audacity to disagree, even slightly, we take umbrage, take offense, get upset, and tell the world how…
Who Is Jesus?
I read a book to a kindergarten class before the end of the schoolyear, and it prompted this question, blurted out by one of the students in the middle of the book. The book itself did a good job answering the question as I continued to read, but it left out much that could have…
To the Rationalizing Intellect
While looking for something in my wife’s files I ran across this poem she wrote over 50 years ago. It’s amazing how time flies and things remain the same, even while they change every day. I think she wrote it while in high school, yet even today the thoughts are true, as they were over…
On Leaving Kindergarten
I have been spending time in a kindergarten classroom in town, three mornings a week since January of this year. This is my second tour of duty since I retired January 2020; the first was cut short in March of 2020 for some reason. I’ve learned a lot in kindergarten, and hope that I have…
The Paperboy
One of my recent tasks as a kindergarten class volunteer was to help modernize the books on tape to books on CDs. Kids don’t know too much about tapes, plus the tapes get old, brittle, and they break (kind of like kindergarten volunteers.) Since I had a little technology expertise, meaning I knew the difference…
Why Celebrate the Resurrection?
We can put a lot of words to explain why we celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But Paul put it perfectly, roughly 2000 years ago as he wrote to the church in Corinth. This is taken from 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, NET. “For I passed on to you as of first importance what…
Thanksgiving for the Righteousness of Christ
Augustus Toplady wrote this hymn, which is included in “The Complete Works of Augustus Toplady,” page 897, under the overall heading “Juvenile Poems on Sacred Subjects.” A subtitle of the section indicates he wrote these hymns between the ages of 15-18. Let’s see, what was I doing at that age? Unfortunately, I wasn’t writing hymns.…
Decayed Milestones
I listened to a podcast recently on Augustus Toplady, and on its completion I thought it would be interesting to pull out a book I bought a long time ago, but has been collecting dust on a bookshelf. The Complete Works of Augustus Toplady, published in 1987, but, from the flyleaf “Printed verbatim from the…