Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Sorted by date Results 26 - 47 of 47
If you were to think of a single word, one which would sum up the Lent season, what would it be? Sadness? Worry? Death? Suffering? Jesus? Cross? There are any number of words that come to mind. And most likely, they would all be correct to some extent. Certainly all the ones I just listed would qualify. But the one I've come up with, the one word that to me signifies this season on our church calendar is Forgiveness. It is indeed a difficult concept to truly understand. In other religions of the world, they don't have a God that will forgive a...
This week begins the portion of the church calendar that separates Christianity from all other religions, Easter. As a prelude, a time for preparation, for nearly all Christian denominations to observe the season of Lent. The season of Lent lasts for 40 days and begins on Ash Wednesday. But if you were to count the actual days on your calendar from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday you would find there are 44 days. The answer to this is that as Sunday is a day of worship, it is not counted as a day of preparation. So, taking the days of this...
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father. Amen. The Bible. I'm sure the vast majority of homes in the area have at least one. That's good. Unfortunately, in too many homes, we're not quite sure where it is. If asked, is your answer some place in the bookcase, or maybe in a drawer somewhere? Here is another question. Did you receive one as a gift many years ago, and it still has that “new car” smell and not even the title page has been read? I wish there weren't so many people who would agree with those answers. However, the good news is that...
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father. Amen. It is getting to be about that time of year. Halloween is over and retail outfits, big and small alike, are skimming over Thanksgiving and marching right into the Christmas season. It seems a shame, but if I were in retail, it is likely I would be doing the same thing. After all, how hard it must be to put a really big sales push into a season in which we are to be thankful for what we already have. Along with this season comes the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the Christmas season....
Change, transition, whatever name you wish to put on it, we are experiencing it right now. I've been known to repeat this a number of times so bear with me if you have heard me say this before. When I was young, I would hear grown-ups say that the older they got, the faster time went by. I would think to myself, how dumb is that? It made no sense to me at all. Time did not go fast. It went too slow. The things I wanted to happen took forever to get here. However, now as I get older, I am finding that the grown-ups knew what they were talking...
I am attending a wedding this week. What is amazing to me is that not so very long ago, those who knew me would have been very surprised at that statement. Truth is, I would go to great lengths to avoid such gatherings. I don't really know for sure why that was but I just didn't go to them unless absolutely necessary. If it were a family event involving a sibling or a nephew or niece, that was different. It was always great to see relatives I hadn't seen for a while and the partying was usually pretty good also. But other than that, I didn't...
Greetings dear friends in Christ. It’s hardly news anymore. I can’t imagine there is any person, anywhere, that isn’t aware of COVID-19. In actuality, it hasn’t been that long since the coronavirus first made the news even though it seems like it's been around forever. As I recall, back then it was a news item but not of any particular importance. IT was just another bug, somewhat reminiscent of the Swine Flu or the Bird Flu of a few years back. We would just let it run its course and all would be fine. Well, it hasn’t worked out that way....
Do not fear. Fear not. Do not be afraid. All these commands are found in the bible. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was to become the mother of our Savior. He tells her to not be afraid. It is certainly understandable that when all of a sudden an archangel from God appears, at first she would have been afraid. Joseph is visited by an angel in a dream and is told that he is not to be afraid to continue his betrothment, to take Mary as his wife even though she is with child. It was the will of God. Shepherds, keeping...
There was a television program some time ago, reruns continue today. “Fraiser” was based on a psychiatrist who had given up private practice and now had a radio program where people would call in with problems of various levels of seriousness, though usually intended to be humorous. On one particular episode, the psychiatrist was told that he had to have a little song to be played as an intro to his program. Eventually, at the program’s ending, what they came up with was if you wanted help, no matter what your problem, if you wanted help,...
Greetings. What a wonderful time of year. Swimming pools are open, we can again have picnics in the park, chase that little white ball around golf courses, and enjoy leisurely walks in the evenings, listening to the birds singing. If you have the inclination, you can even sit back and relax in the sun with a fishing pole in your hand. We have no worries about icy roads, wondering if the car will start, and so forth. But, this year, after such a cold winter, we were so looking forward to finally having spring and then the coronavirus hit. While...
Division. No, I’m not speaking of a function of mathematics. And I am not speaking of a grouping of sports teams that get scheduled to play against each other. Neither am I talking about a large military unit like an Infantry or Armored division. While elementary school children might not agree with me, none of these definitions of division are a bad thing. We need to learn how to divide one number by another. It can be a source of pride to win one’s division in sports. NDSU has become very successful in winning it’s division champ...
Here it is February already. Can winter really be half over? Didn't we just celebrate Christmas? That seems like so long ago doesn't it. Time does move on and the older we get, it seems as if it goes by faster, but spring is on the way. We've had some very nice weather this past week but those of us who have lived here for any length of time at all, we know there is a lot of winter yet to come. We have just observed Groundhogs Day. Legend would have it that because Phil didn't see his shadow, we will have an early spring. Don't count on it....
I don't know how it all started, but someplace along the line the people on Madison Avenue in New York City decided that it would make an easier sell to have somebody important touting their products. Madison Avenue in New York is to advertising like Wall Street is to stocks and bonds and finance. Personally I don't care who endorses a product. It might be a world-famous athlete, the world's richest person, or the world's most beautiful woman I don't care. If I like something I buy it, if I don't, I won't. Simple as that. I've met some very...
You have probably heard this a thousand times already, but where has the summer gone? Wasn’t it in just the last couple of weeks I wrote an article on the kids getting out of school and people going on vacation? It sure seems like it. Now the kids are back in school, some happily and some sad. The same goes for the teachers I suspect. On the positive side, if your summer was a little on the boring side, we have the football and volleyball seasons starting for our entertainment. It will be fun to cheer them on again this year and I look f...
Rain. We love it. It is needed to grow our crops. Oh, there may be some irrigation on a small scale here and there but for the most part, our farmers here need the rain. I must admit, agricultural purposes aside, I do like the rain. Even as I write this sitting at my desk, there is a very light drizzle happening right outside my window. The other day when I got home from the office I was in my recliner reading and listening to a gentle rain. It wasn’t storming or blowing, just enough so that I could hear it. Yes, I know it is going to make t...
It was to my great happiness that I spent the last week of July in Colorado. It seems that whenever people get together at funerals, there are a number of people that say, “we need to get together sometime just for fun, not for a funeral.” Well, that’s exactly what we four brothers did. There were five of us originally but the oldest died a few years back. We said the same thing while we were in the hospital saying goodbye to our older brother. Well, we finally did it. We got together just for fun. We missed our sister of course who couldn’t ma...
Freedom. Yep, that word sure sounds good, doesn't it? Of course, freedom can mean different things to different people. Here we are, in the last of the summer months, the children are still out of school and free from classes and homework, but not for long. For the most part, family vacations are over and parents will have also lost their freedom from the daily grind of work. However, we're not free from our responsibilities to our children or spouses, and others in our care. We are free to go wherever we wish, in our free time but if we are...
This past week we received some much welcome rain. It is so nice to see green fields on either side of the road as we make our way to whatever our destination. Our lawns appreciate it also. They seem to be just that much greener from rain that God provides than when we water them ourselves. Let's pray we continue to receive rain in a timely fashion throughout the summer. The writings of Charles Dickens, though written many years ago, are still very popular today. Several of them have been made into movies or broadway plays, and some even both....
I realize that this is giving away my age somewhat, but way back in my youth a rock and roll group by the name of The Rolling Stones came from England to tour the U.S. The “English Invasion,” a phrase eventually coined by the media was just beginning. The Beatles could be honored, or blamed depending on your point of view, for the phenomenon. The “Stones” weren't far behind them. What is hard to believe is the Stones are still touring world-wide after all these years. With the lifestyle they led, one would think they would never have lasted....
Summer is here. For the most part, the crops are in the ground, and a lot is already poking up through the dirt. We have fields of green instead of the various shades of brown, black and gray that we were getting so tired of seeing. Some of the row crops still need to be seeded, but each day we get closer and closer to being done. And we're hoping we will see a little rain soon. The kids are home from school. Backyards, baseball fields, and swimming pools have taken over for the classrooms and gym. A song recorded quite a few years ago by Nat...
Dare I say it? Is spring finally here? It sure looks like it and I am glad as I'm sure most of you are also. Late May and early June seems to pretty much belong to the children. They are going through final tests for the school year. There are concerts and award nights, state contests in various academic endeavours as well as athletic events. There are graduations and often times, accompanying open houses. Not only are there school events, there are also church related events. Sunday schools have their last classes for the season as well as Con...
The last couple of articles I've written for our monthly parish newsletter talked about change. Oh yes, that ugly word change. It seems that the older we get, the more set in our ways we become and change becomes more difficult. But when we think about it, the world for all of us began with change and will end with change. What must a newborn child think or experience when he or she sees light for the first time and takes that first breath? They find themselves no longer in the womb being n...
