My great-grandfather was once asked: “Brother Reynolds do you think you are right about everything?” He replied: “If I thought I was wrong, I would change my mind.” This was wise. Naturally, he did change his mind sometimes and as a modest man Great-grandfather knew he likely was wrong about more than a few things. However, he knew that eventually a person has to commit himself and then see. After all, his father had gone off to fight for Lincoln... Read more
Live joyfully. If we live by love, then we can build something good, true, and beautiful, best we can. We will not isolate ourselves, that grows rotten too easily. If some values (not all!) seem rejected by the particular time and place in which we live, then we must recall that some is not all. This time is not all times. This particular place is not all places. If we are living out the truth, best we can, then tending to that hard and... Read more
We are God’s joy. God loves us, all of us, despite our wandering far from what is good. Father warned us and must discipline us, but He never stops loving us. God never sees us without hope now until the hour of our death. The good Father is never hopeless, never merely angry, or without mercy. We are God’s joy: now, just as we are, considering what could be, even knowing what is true of us. We are God’s joy. The wise and virtuous God, perfect... Read more
We stand at educational Armageddon and hire consultants for the Board. This is the state of too much of private higher education leadership, particularly in religious schools. Enrollments keep declining, hidden by juggling programs, and quality declines as teaching is farmed out to part timers who cannot make a living. The times cry out of for innovation, but too often leadership isn’t listening, so wander instead of leading. Viewing themselves as victims of fate, though all this was predicted decades... Read more
“You shall not pass.” So says a college professor at this time of the term. . .making what passes for a joke in the professoriate by echoing the great wizard Gandalf facing the Balrog of Moria in Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf is very powerful, yet this power often seems missing in other adventures. Is this the same wizard who in other places seems scarcely able to handle goblins and wolves or do much more than produce a light in a... Read more
The City of God is kept in safety for all time: full of love, the pursuit of wisdom, and joy. The beloved community is described this way in song, prophetic words, and history. Those with right beliefs, the “orthodox,” never are dated, because they are never up to date. The Orthodox choose the eternal at the cost of the ephemeral, rejecting the calendar as a measure of truth. This is bold, good, and noble, but can lead to despair. The... Read more
The trumpet is gone, no clear notes sound in our house. The first time I saw Hope playing the trumpet, she was on stage at our high school and the stage lights on the instrument and her hair created a golden glow that surrounded her. She was playing in a circle of light. Her sound always was her strength and the Bach Stradivarius carried her through high school, college, until now. When we got married, I noticed that some of... Read more
To see correctly, even for a moment, is splendid. As a child, I was so near-sighted the stained glass in our home church looked like a smear of color. There was beauty, but when I was given glasses I could see more. There was a lamb, a cross, and a crown. The colors remained and if I wished, I could still take off the glasses and see the smear view, but once on I rarely wanted to take my glasses off... Read more
My Papaw Earl taught me a great lesson: don’t love brown shirts or red shirts. Love the Bible, Jesus, and justice. Papaw had a vision as a young man: He saw a man looking like Charlie Chaplin riding a horse. All was military and grand until the horse passed by him, the viewer, and Papaw saw that the horse was only half alive. The innards spilled out to the ground. All was ugly. All was evil. There was no beauty.... Read more
A Little Argument Recently a man made a little argument about words: “Words mean what people say they mean.” “I am creating the meaning for this word. This is fun and what everyone does.” From this small argument the speaker was willing to draw pretty important conclusions about how he should live. He also thought everything he was saying was obvious. Naturally, the speaker could not really have meant this as if he personally was creating the meaning to all... Read more
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