A word about,… Phrases Sometimes, I catch myself saying things I haven’t really thought through. They’re often phrases that I use, but when I really examine them, I discover are pretty empty of meaning, really. They’re almost like ‘fillers’ or ‘fluff’ in trying to communicate. For example, I caught myself the other day using…
A Word About Possessing,… I was driving home the other day when I passed a parked truck that looked exactly like my truck. I glanced in the rearview mirror and I said out loud: “I think that’s my truck back there.” Turns out I was wrong. It had a different license plate than…
A Word About … Modalities. I got to thinking about that word the other day, modalities, as I was reading the Gospels contemplating Palm Sunday, and the Lord Jesus riding into Jerusalem on that donkey. I found myself thinking about how Jesus ‘got along,’ how he got from one place to another in his…
A Word About Time,… Where in the world does the time go, I wonder, when time goes by? And how many times have I used that phrase? As time’s clock ticks the moments of my life away, After a second has passed … Does it go somewhere? Is there some great vault of moments, Where the God…
A Word about,… Stale Ken Jones · Classic State Of Mind – Stale I don’t know anyone who has a fondness for a dry, ‘stale’ anything. A stale joke isn’t funny. For me, a stale cup of coffee isn’t even drinkable. Stale air isn’t fit to be breathed. And any way you slice it,…
A Word About RSV People familiar with various editions and translations of the bible know those various translations by their initials. The King James version, for example, is often identified in literature when quoted as the KJV. And the New King James version is noted as the NKJV. The New American Standard is the…
A word about,… The Climb. Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Matt. 5 and what we call The Sermon on the Mount begins this way: “When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and…
A Word About, …Overwhelmed I was feeling overwhelmed the other day with so many tasks and demands, and things in my life. As I sat in my pity party, thinking about that ‘feeling’ of being overwhelmed, I decided to check out the meaning of that word. Was I feeling ‘overwhelmed?’ or was it something…
A Word About Firsts,… Life in all its complexities and nuances is crowded with occasions we call ‘first times.’ My life began, almost certainly, with a crying episode. (Although I don’t recall it, I must have been absolutely squalling,) The first time I ever took a breath. The first time I ever got smacked…
A Word About Songs … I’ve mentioned before, here on Classic State of Mind, that music has been an integral part of my journey for my entire life. My parents loved to sing gospel music when I was growing up, and when we took family trips in the car, singing church songs helped make…