Category: hope

The Strangest Temptation

     “Truly, this was the Son of God!” – Matthew 27:54      Tomorrow begins Holy Week for this Year of Our Lord 2024. If you’re a Christian, you already know the significance of this portion of the calendar. If not: it’s the week when Christians commemorate the entry of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, into …

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Shamelessness As A Political Weapon (UPDATED)

     The key political asset of our time is the ability to tell any lie, however outrageous or absurd, with a perfectly straight face: eyes straight and flat, no lifting of either corner of the mouth, and no tightening of either nostril. Moreover, the liar must be able to maintain that solemn-as-a-judge expression through a …

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“That Can’t Be!”

Dave: Everybody cheats. I just didn’t know. Dad: Well, now you know. [From Breaking Away.]      Have you become more skeptical as you’ve aged, or less?      There’s an awful lot of utter nonsense being purveyed by the extended media, these days. By “extended,” I mean to subsume all providers of information, not just the …

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People Of Hope

     I recall recommending The Hope Line as a worthy charity earlier this year. Unlike most other charities, it doesn’t offer material or financial help to those who come to it. Rather, it offers a sympathetic ear and voice. Its workers will talk to you about anything, but an emphasis on…drum roll, please…hope. Within that …

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When Life Improves On Art

     There was once a British writer named John Brunner who was given to writing scathing novels about a fictional United States mired in one or another sort of crisis or calamity. His writing was excellent even if his vision was perverse. One of his novels, Stand On Zanzibar, won the Hugo Award at a …

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And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor

“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little Bird That kept so many …

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Smart Tactics

     Clever tacticians know it: Strike the enemy at his weakest point. Believe it or not, that – not tanks, aerial warfare, or poison gas – was the biggest innovation that came out of World War I. Before that, nation armies would hurl themselves at one another’s strength, each hoping to destroy the another and …

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Pandora’s Last Gift Versus The Gospel Of Despair

     I’m in an odd mood this morning (“So what’s new?” come the mutterings from the peanut gallery), in part owing to two pieces I recently stumbled over: The tireless pursuit of mediocrity “Thou shalt have no other gods before Us, the Establishment.”      My reaction to these stories might have been different had I …

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