Opinion

During a trip to Colorado as a child, I found gold. I had previously devoured Jack London’s “Call of the Wild,” imagining myself out in the Canadian Yukon or the Alaskan Klondike finding gold. Unable to convince my parents to take me to Alaska — I unsuccessfully suggested this family vacation every year as a child — the Colorado Rockies at least fit the image in my gold-panning dreams better than Missouri. And then it all came true. I found gold.

Is Valentine’s Day a Christian holiday? Well, yes and no. No, it is not a day on the Christian calendar like Good Friday, Easter or Christmas. In that sense, it is not technically a Christian holiday.

The recent passing of astronaut John Glenn has revived interest in our country’s early space flights. I remember as an elementary student being herded into our school library so we could all watch this brave man in an oversized tin can hurtling through the inky black void.

By calendrical coincidence, we have two national celebrations this Jan. 16.

One is the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the best-known and honored figures of the 20th century. The other is the birth of religious freedom in America

“[Lord] when I am afraid, I will trust in You.”

These words from the Psalmist are certainly applicable for us today. If we didn’t already have sufficient reasons for concern, recent events have certainly given us cause.

Since my election in November to serve as the ninth editor of Word&Way, several faithful subscribers have shared with me how they have read Word&Way since they were kids. I understand. I recall bringing the Word&Way in from the mailbox as a child.

In 1787, so the story goes, a Russian named Grigory Potemkin erected a portable, fake village in order to impress the visiting Empress Catherine II.

Thus the phrase “Potemkin village” has come into our lexicon to describe anything literal or figurative that is constructed in order to deceive others into thinking that the situation is better than it really is.

My favorite Christmas movie is "A Christmas Story," which tells the story of Ralphie Parker, a nine-year-old boy and his desire to receive an official Red Ryder carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a sundial for Christmas.

The problem that Ralphie faces is all of the adults in his life are against him receiving the gun as a Christmas present because, as they say, "he'll shoot his eye out."

“Everyone went to their own town to register” (Luke 2:3).

The familiar Christmas story starts with a governmental registry. Tracking — and taxing — populations helped Rome enact its oppression. So we read of a journey to Bethlehem by an engaged couple with a faith and ethnicity considered suspicious by the authorities. 

Last Father’s Day I received a gift from my wife and children more precious than I can describe. Without my knowledge, they had repurposed some wood from my late father’s workshop and built a kneeling bench, or prie-dieu, for my study at home.