In today’s mail, I received a wonderful and timely gift along with a letter, parts of which I will share excerpts with you now. A majority decision disbanded our Ministering Circle. This was prayerfully and sadly decided. We hope the New York Branch will send our remaining Circle balance of $200 for the Native American…
In March, the 2020 US Census Bureau released educational attainment data showing that 36.3% of American adults 25 years and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher. This fall nationwide in America, freshmen enrollment plummeted 16% for four-year colleges and 23% for community colleges. (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center) In October 2020, the Canadian government…
Mental Health America (MHA) is proud to recognize November as National Family Caregivers Month – a time to celebrate caregivers’ contributions, provide them with tools that they need, and continue to advocate for individuals with mental illness. There are over 60 million Americans who are unpaid caregivers to family, friends and neighbors, according to a…
Autumn brings changes in color and temperature for me in the Midwest. It also brings about menu and activity changes under normal circumstances that I enjoy including picking apples and making pies. My grandchildren are talking about their Halloween costumes hoping there are choices other than a Spiderman mask. If allowed to trick or treat,…
One of my very favorite appliances is my very old electric “omelette” pan, one of the very few things I insisted on keeping following my divorce over 30 years ago. It’s held up well…probably because I generally only use it for a “weekend” breakfast or when I have guests visiting. Today, I felt like making…
Today is a sunny day in Mississippi, and here I am writing, hopefully writing something concerning a meaningful experience. I decided not to use the Letter V in my story. The letter is tired. It has been used so much since February that I am trying to give it a rest. This thought comes from…
I love to play golf! I’m especially enjoying this summer of golf because my niece, Heather, has taken up the game, and we’re golf partners for our Thursday night league. Boy, has her golf game improved! In addition to family members mentoring her and going to the driving range and playing rounds with her, she’s…
For five weeks this summer, I had the privilege of supervising the work of two IOKDS Learn & Discern interns virtually. Seeing my role as a facilitator of learning for both our organization and the interns, I assisted the interns in focusing their time and effort on projects that help our organization move forward with…
When I first retired from the Air Force and settled back home to my house on the lake, I signed up for the weekly subscription of the Boonville Herald newspaper to get back in touch with what’s happening in the local communities around me. The Boonville Herald newspaper is only published once a week, but…
I am truly honored to share my thoughts and reflections with you today, Patriot’s Day. It is crucial to remember the tragic events that happened on September 11, 2001, but more importantly, to learn from that fateful day. Every year, I try to focus on a theme. This year my article comes from the title…
I love books of all kinds. Like many of you, I read quickly and am always on the hunt for new reads. With our local libraries COVID-closed, I have downloaded library e-books, ordered paperbacks from Amazon, and searched my cupboards and closets for overlooked books. However, I have a “rule” whenever I purchase books for…
This is our new normal in many aspects of our personal and organizational lives. So how is our 134-year old organization that embraces tradition more easily than change going to survive during this COVID year ahead? And if the pandemic continues into 2022, will we find ourselves in a default position of too late to…
I think Chicken Little and I have something in common – at least we do on the days when the news from around the world is relentlessly bad. On those days, it does feel like the sky is falling. I think about the many who have lost employment, who are struggling to pay rent and…
The first time I heard Father Greg Boyle preach at Chautauqua, I knew I was in the presence of someone who “walked the talk”, a man whose life was devoted to offering opportunities for a better life to Los Angeles gang members. He always brought a few former gang members with him who also told…
“Forces Unseen: What Shapes Our Daily Life” is one of the Chautauqua Institution’s 2020 lecture week themes. In thinking about this question, we might all immediately respond, saying the novel viral pandemic is one of the most significant forces shaping our lives in history. It is hard to imagine how something so minute in size…