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Columns

  • When travelers find each other

    My wife and I were the only customers in the souvenir and gift shop, lone shoppers during an off-season in Daytona Beach, Fla.

    The lady at the cash register was kind but guarded, like the person checking your ID at airport security. But something about this lady intrigued me: Was she shy or resentful? Uncaring or prudent? Calloused or bruised?

    Directing me to the next aisle, she snapped, staccato style, “Sweatshirts and hoodies over there; caps, next aisle.”

    Her accent, which I guessed to be Eastern European, was heavy.

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  • Value of jail ministry not in question

    For the past 36 years, the Hardin County Detention Center has enjoyed a very active and successful jail ministry with a variety of local churches. 

    Currently, 32 separate denominations or religious groups participate in jail ministry. This unique ministry began in 1976 when  jail chaplain Larry Vance along with Dr. Les Langley, Bill Evans, Kennett Smith and Patricia Wheeler  began the ministry on the “cell block.” They literally shared with inmates “through the bars” at the Hardin County Jail. 

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  • Celebrating two notable deaths in my life

    Today is Easter Sunday. Coincidentally, it’s also my father’s birthday.

    Both celebrate death.

    One focuses on a loving, heavenly father who sacrificed to provide eternal life. The other focuses on a loving, earthly father who sacrificed in his own way to provide my stable life.

    Dad would have been 74 today. He only saw 54 birthdays.

    He’s come to mind a lot lately. I’m 54.

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  • Correcting our failure to communicate this Easter

    George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

    Communication is an imperfect science, to say the least.

    I picked up the phone just the other day and thought I correctly read the caller ID: “Lebanon Elementary School,” the school where my wife works. So naturally, I assumed it was her.

    But that’s not what it said. And it wasn’t her.

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  • We haven't heard the last of jail-baptism conflict

    It can be dangerous to discuss religious beliefs. It’s even more dangerous to discuss someone else’s religious beliefs.

    But to fully appreciate the jailhouse issue raised last week before Hardin Fiscal Court, it’s essential to begin by seeking to understand.

    To review, the Elizabethtown Church of Christ made a presentation during the informational portion of Tuesday’s public meeting. The church is one of several local congregations offering religious instruction, ministry and prayer at the Hardin County Detention Center.

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  • A few kind words for people who befriend pets

    Mahatma Ghandi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

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  • Urging women to demonstrate hope through GRACE Conference

    There is an amazing opportunity coming April 21 for this community to support SpringHaven, our domestic violence shelter and program. A women’s conference at Grace Heartland Church in Elizabethtown will feature a few nationally known speakers and some that were locally grown. There will be great info, food and fellowship and every ticket purchased will be a donation for SpringHaven. 

    I just don’t want this to be an announcement for an event. I want to help you understand why it is so important to support this cause.

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  • Drive-by memories of a former home and a full life

    The yellow street sign warned: “Stop ahead,” so I tapped my brakes, bringing my car to a complete stop at the intersection. I glanced to the left before releasing stepping on the accelerator.

    Then it hit me.

    No, it wasn’t another vehicle. It was a series of scenes from the past, swirling around my car, streaming by me one by one and all at once, hurling me back in a time warp before swooshing past my car like a comet, leaving me craning my neck to grasp another glimpse as I idled by.

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  • How did $3.71 go from a burden to a bargain?

    Detouring onto U.S. 31W on a trip home Friday from Bowling Green, I spotted regular gasoline on sale at $3.71 per gallon.

    What a bargain.

    It was important to confirm that the pump price matched the highway sign. Then quickly filling the tank, it seemed certain that the station’s staff would learn any second that prices all along the Interstate 65 corridor were typically at least 15 cents higher per gallon.

    It felt like a remarkable discovery. Then reality set in: When did $3.71 per gallon become something to celebrate?

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  • BBB commends savvy consumers

    The Better Business Burea is commending savvy consumers.

    Consumers asked BBBs across the country and in Canada for help more than 103 million times in 2011, up from 87 million in 2010 and the highest rate in the organization’s 100-year history.

    Conversely, filings of formal complaints against businesses were down across the U.S. and Canada; 927,000 in 2011 compared to just more than 1 million in 2010.

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