This week I came face-to-face with a genuine dilemma. I had several meetings across town and for some reason I miscalculated and ended up with a 2-1/2 hour gap between meetings. I hate to waste time, but if I drove back to my office, I would simply…

Within the confines of our blissful domicile, an ongoing controversy has all but come to an end. I like it when things are solved and I happen to be right. This time I was right. After all, if it is on TV it must be right! Controversies are not…

If somebody gave out an award for grouchiness and downright cantankerousness, I am sure I would take top honors. Of course, according to the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, there is no honor in being grouchy or cantankerous nor is there room for…

Some people have what they call their “bucket list.” I am not too sure what this is all about but it seems to me it is a list of things people would like to do before they “kick the bucket.” Me, I do not plan to kick any bucket as long as I…

I was sitting on the back porch sipping an ice-cold tea with a splash of lemon when I received a text from a relative up north. I was enjoying a pleasant afternoon basking in the winter sun of Florida. I am not sure what God was thinking of when He c…

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage does not allow any pets in our domicile. Something about cleaning up their mess and fleas and other things that I cannot recall. When our last child moved out of the house so did all pets. They are now just…

Memory is a very wonderful thing, at times. It seems the older I get the more I remember things that never happened. I do not know how that takes place, but I guess it is just old age creeping up on me. With me, old age has ceased creeping and has…

I enjoy being cheerful and Christmas time is a special time to be cheerful and I try my best to live up to it. Occasionally, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage will suggest I am going a little too far. During the rest of the year I stay out of…

While many people are out on a shopping spree to liquidate any cash reserves they might have left, I am taking this time to do a little bit of reflection. Shopping is not my favorite thing to do. I forgot about it last week and Thursday evening I…

This is the time of the year holidays get into full steam. It begins with Halloween when people put on a scary face and ends with New Year’s day when people put on a new face. I could never figure out if the Halloween face was the New Year’s Day…

Growing up back in “the day,” most people put a lot of credence on promises and lived by the motto, “A man is as good as his word.” Most agreements were sealed with a handshake. If you said you were going to do something, you did it. Period….

I cannot express how ecstatic I was when someone gave me a coupon for a free donut. Normally, I am not overly excited about “free.” All I had to do was fill out a little survey online and they would send me a code that would guarantee me a free…

This past week I had to go to the mall. I know, I should know better but I thought I could sneak in, get what I needed and sneak out again. So much for my thoughts. I wanted to purchase several tie chains for my neckties and searched every jewelry…

A certain situation has been building in the Parsonage for the last several months. At first, I did not think it too serious but alas, we have reached a terrible impasse. It started a few months ago when I came home, walked into the house and was…

For my wife’s birthday (I am not allowed to mention which one) I surprised her with round trip tickets to her family reunion in upper New York State. Out of courtesy to her, I elected not to include myself in her little vacation. After all, it…

Our country, so it seems, runs on choice. The more choices we have the better we like it. Most people in America pride themselves on the ability to make their own choices. “Freedom of Choice,” is the cry you hear all around our country…

All through my life, I have been awkward when talking to someone of the opposite gender. I had thought by the time I got to this stage of life, post-young, I would have left a lot of this behind. Just when I think I have a good handle on this…

I am not what you would call a superstitious person. [Knock on wood.] I am a realist in a modified definition of that word and I usually take things as they come. My past week, however, was an open commentary on “Murphy’s Law.”…

I have concluded that life, as it stands out in the public arena, is a very confusing thing. As I watched the news and see scandal after scandal unfold and people trying to dance around the facts so that they come out looking good, I am reminded of…