Subscribe:
RSS feed
The View from My Ship
2020 Election Reader
Your Essential Christian Guide to the 2020 Presidential Election Who to vote for? Why should I even vote? What difference will it make? This short book–you can read it in less than an hour if you are not interrupted–will answer some of your questions, and, most important, suggest that the answers are in the Bible, […]
The Visit
February 27, 2021
I have discovered an axiom that I’ll share with you today. Just when you’ve got your rhythm and routine (your r and r’s) down to a comfortable pace and predictable pattern, stand by for a change, sometimes a big change, sometimes a happy one, sometimes a tragic one, sometimes a bit of both. And beware, […]
Posted in: Life in America
Compassion, or Unconditional Love
February 17, 2021
This column started out in the bathing area of a local pet shop. For ten bucks (plus tax) you get access to a huge tub, shampoo, warm water, a waterproof apron, and as much time as you need with your dog to give him a great bath. There’s a warm air dryer with a long […]
Can You Be a (True) Christian and Still be a (Successful) Politician?
February 17, 2021
Can you be both a true Christian and a successful and effective politician? I am using Christians simply because we are still a Christian nation, at least statistically. If I were writing in Iran, well, I would probably be beheaded so let’s leave that option off the table. At the core of the differences between […]
Posted in: Christianity, see also Matters of Faith, Politics
Privilege and Equity
January 31, 2021
This is going to be a thought piece which some of you may like and some may dislike. But I compose it with the old rules in place: we can disagree on just about anything, but we agree to listen to each other with civility, and usually reach an accord or compromise. There are however […]
On Taking Naps and Being President
January 31, 2021
I am the same age as President Biden and require a nap, or a siesta in the language I learned as a child growing up in Lima, Peru, to function. There, I’ve said it: Expressed a fact that I think is nearly irrefutable. If you are a friend or acquaintance with President Biden, please share […]
Posted in: Life in America
Advice to the ex-President from a Christian
January 31, 2021
Now that we have moved on from the transition to President Biden from ex-President Trump, I thought to ask my wife Louise, a Christian like me, what advice she would have for Mr. Trump as he moves into another cycle of his life. My own advice would be simple: get over it Dude and play […]
Posted in: Christianity, see also Matters of Faith, Politics
Commission for the 21st Century
January 19, 2021
As we move into the third decade of the 21st century I think we need to do some planning. I suggested a few weeks ago on a way for UA to renew itself with vigor and imagination. Establish a Commission for the 21st Century to study where we’ve come from, where we are, and what […]
Posted in: Education
Teaching with Socrates
January 9, 2021
“Teaching” is the second of three missions of any university, the other two being “research” and “service.” You can read them on big letters in a splendid sign as you approach the University of Alabama on University Boulevard. This is the third in a short series on all three as the University, and all universities […]
Posted in: teaching
Teaching, Part 1
January 9, 2021
A few weeks ago, we briefly explored the world of research in universities. Today let’s explore another goal in the trilogy of words that describe best what a university is about: teaching, research, and service. Like most faculty at the university level, I earned my Ph.D. from someplace else (Tulane in my case) and […]
Posted in: teaching
The Research Dimension of Higher Education
December 27, 2020
As we enter a new year and chase out the tens of thousands Chinese spies inhabiting the halls (and labs) of Ivy and Kudzu across the nation, it may be a good time to take stock of why even the colleges and universities exist. They were established in the Middle Ages–places like Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, […]
Posted in: academia
Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day
- Job 23:10-11“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.”
October 10, 2020
0