We like cats. Cats #6 and #7 are currently residing at our abode. We don't name our animals readily because cats #1-5 did not last more than a few months. It's not that we were lax in our responsibilities towards them; on the contrary, we poured out time and money on the little critters. We found Cat #6 near death in a ravine. She quickly became a "former indoor" cat when we discovered three-foot-long tapeworms! Cat #7 was dumped in front of our house, and is suffering mildly from worms, malnutrition, and feline leukemia. The vet wants to give it interferon shots once a month (at 10 bucks a shot.) I tell you we only take the best animals around here. I only hope they live long enough to get names... Read More.

Refugees! Since WWll people have been displaced because of conflicts in India, Pakistan,Vietnam, Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, and now Kosovo. We saw the magazine photo of an emaciated Somolian child dying as a vulture hovered in the background. We caught a glimpse in the newspaper of a young man pushing his frail aunt in a wheelbarrow toward the Albanian border. Somehow it all becomes familiar and forgettable. We are caught up in our own problems, concerns, careers, and goals... Read More.

Sheep, shepherds, and related terms are used as pictures throughout the Bible to convey spiritual truths and relationships. In the agrarian culture of ancient times, and even in the rural populations of the Western world, these concepts were readily understood. Unfortunately, the applications are not as clear to contemporary readers who get no closer to the agricultural production base than a supermarket counter, a shopkeeper's display, or a fleeting glimpse from an interstate highway... Read More.