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On Titanic Day 2011

From First Thoughts

Reading “A Night To Remember” during Middle School made April 14 memorable all my life. Slowly the last survivors died and this year none are left who were on the great liner when it went down in the Atlantic.I used to dream of it.The sinking of the ship was mythic for me, like Narnia or . . . . Continue Reading »

Love and Knowledge

From First Thoughts

“He is a great friend of mine,” the man was saying, “a really fine fellow . . . good old what’s-his-name.”At that moment I could not help questioning the depth of the friendship. Now it is possible the man was suffering one of those lapses of memory that grow all too . . . . Continue Reading »

On Dressing for Hope

From First Thoughts

Traveling and speaking teaches many deep lessons. One of those isn’t this observation: Christian women care more about their appearance than Christian men. My sociology friends would point out that I have done no survey, collected no data, and yet the evidence before my eyes has been . . . . Continue Reading »

Laughing at Impiety

From First Thoughts

My misspent youth had a laugh track provided by the Monty Python crew. There was a time when saying “Neet” in a crowded room was a great way to find a fellow nerd and future friend. Like all good comics, and any prophet, the Pythons mocked the powerful and punctured pretensions.Anybody . . . . Continue Reading »

On Pop Music

From First Thoughts

Breathes there a man with a soul so dead that he only listens to music heard first when he was in high school?Evidently, yes, if my experience is any guide. Give me a phone or IPod and I can tell you the age of the owner with more accuracy than Sherlock Holmes granted a walking stick. There are more . . . . Continue Reading »

An Unimportant Thank You to Stoke-on-Trent

From First Thoughts

Via the magic of the Internet, comes the knowledge that at least one person, and probably only one person, reads what I write in the town of Stoke-on-Trent, England. I cannot imagine what this reader did to deserve international literary torment, but I appreciate the support. The mystery of why . . . . Continue Reading »

Being Single Is Bad

From First Thoughts

Being single is not good for anyone. God affirms this in Genesis when he says of the first man “it is not good to be alone.” People went from one to two so that we could, in some mysterious way, imitate the natural fellowship in God. If you are alone, then you know the wisdom of that . . . . Continue Reading »

On Elizabeth Taylor

From First Thoughts

The death of Elizabeth Taylor marked the passing of a woman that my father’s generation made famous for her beauty. Her talent as an actor (you could call them actresses in her day) was off and on, but her talent as a personality never waned. It seems impossible to understand, really . . . . Continue Reading »

Yes Means Yes

From First Thoughts

If you were the Jewish girl named Mary, it was about this time of the year that your life changed. Nine months from now it would Christmas, but the pain and party of that blessed day was far away.Sometime about now if you were Mary, then you had to say “yes” to God.First the . . . . Continue Reading »