“O, hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but can you not discern the signs of the times?”   Matthew 16:3 ********** Reading is dangerous. It exhumes thoughts, disturbing thoughts, thoughts that poke us, voices that whisper, images of smiling frogs being boiled, signs that expose culture’s addictive character. Can we change our …

It was a late-summer Sunday when eight of us pulled up to the gates of Angola State Prison, Angola, Louisiana. The notice read: “You are entering a penal institution,” a wakeup call for nerves. We were here to witness the annual Angola Prison Rodeo. For over fifty years the prison has staged this rodeo. It’s …

Be careful of the pedestal you erect if you’re the hero of your own story. Anonymous ********** Our screened porch overlooks the pool and two small gardens. It’s a pleasant place to watch the birds elbow for position on the feeder and listen to their chorale, especially early morning, when mental initiative sleeps in. Suddenly …

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they saw that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Cataract surgery can backfire on you. ********** Cataracts have been a scourge on mankind since the dawn of time. Medical science has merged with technology and money to eradicate this …