Lots of Mennonite churches are named after the city in which they’re located. Our city happens to have chosen the name Columbus.
The headline of the Metro section of Sunday’s Dispatch read, “Columbus statues still stand in city.” It noted: “Statues of (Christopher) Columbus have been beheaded, toppled or plunged into bodies of water in Boston; St Paul, Minnesota; Camden, New Jersey; and Richmond, Virginia, in a rebuke of his history as a colonizer...
Every day the world Is teaching me what I need to know to be in the world...
...in the stir of too much motion:
Hold still.
Be quiet.
Listen.”
From the essay “Still” in the book Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl
April 12, 2020 (Easter Sunday), I started a new routine. Complete
With binoculars, a small spiral bound notebook, pen, and cup of coffee, I head out to our front porch and begin the day looking for birds that come to our yard.
But, I have found that there is far more to take in and inventory along with birds.
You may...
I was the Middler SS teacher for about 75% of the Sunday School year, wonderfully and ably supported by Abbie Miller and Shelly Beiting who provided weekly snack and a bit of non-boy balance to the enterprise that had 10 strapping, bright, creative, thoughtful, funny, and energetic guys on the roster. The abrupt cancellation of classes eliminated a formal goodbye blessing and, worse, the much anticipated end-of-year machete demonstration, Samson rope tying, and belching contest party.
I wanted to keep that group connected…....
I consider myself an optimistic person, so when challenging circumstances come my way, I try to find the 'silver linings'. They're almost always there, and noticing them helps me feel more grounded and hopeful in troubled times.
I'm grateful that I've been spared most of the hardships of the pandemic. Since I'm retired, my life hasn't changed that much, except that all the group activities and social events I enjoyed have been canceled. I miss seeing friends, but I don't miss being busy. A break in the action has been...
In software, we have a nasty, hidden source of problems called technical debt. Tech debt is the work left undone at time of delivery; when something is done quickly or cosmetically rather than correctly. In the short term, customers love software accruing tech debt because it means they get their features faster.
Sometimes software seems slow and buggy:
When Juli and I moved into our house in Grandview, the yard appeared neat and well mulched. Strangely, I had a hard...