Something dastardly caught my eye and broke my heart this week. A small article of news claiming that 68 children were killed in the Holy Land in the eleven days of fighting between the two ancient foes. As we observe our Memorial Day weekend in which we honor the memory of our soldiers killed in combat, why can’t we also honor the memory of all the children who were innocent victims of all wars. Maybe establish international monuments, like the Tomb of the Unknown Children. We might even consider honoring all those killed in all the wars ever by figuring […]
You Ring; We Bring
Adjusting to special circumstance of Covid 19, grocery stores began offering a delivery service to facilitate shoppers from having to enter the premises. This is not a new concept, but a welcomed one to those unable to get to the store. In my long-past youth, I worked for a local grocery whose niche was declared by its slogan: “May’s Food Market: You Ring; We Bring”. I must have been all of thirteen when I showed up at six o’clock for that first Saturday as a bag boy who would eventually end up being a gregarious grocer with a variety of […]
The Right to Bare Arms
The early part of 2021 witnessed the rollout of Covid 19 vaccines, and I was glad to be in that number of persons vaccinated by the middle of February. And the march goes on as we wait for all of us to get those shots. We were asked to bare our arms as a patriotic and medical duty to slow down this unseen pandemic that’s killing us. Speaking of killings, one wonders where the NRA has been lately. We have had ten mass shootings per week so far this year; 194 in all. [A mass shooting is when four or […]
Motherless Children of Another Exodus
The second chapter of Exodus begins with a story of a mother’s sleuth and chicanery to outwit the Pharaoh’s command that all the boys born to the Israelite slaves by killed. This unsung lady hid her little newborn in a basket in the bulrushes on the Nile in Egypt where the Pharaoh’s daughter discovers him, takes him home and unwittingly hires his birth mother as the nursemaid. She names the kid Moses because, as she put it, “I drew him out of the water.” Even with a such a confusing family tree, Moses emerges as the biblical hero who will […]
Being Dead Is No Excuse
Today’s catchy yet mysterious title is borrowed from a classic book by the same name on how grief and grace use groceries to enable those of us left behind after the funeral to manage our survival with some solace and soul food. The two southern ladies who wrote the charming culinary guide try to convince the readers that Folks in the Delta have a strong sense of community, and being dead is no impediment to belonging to it. Down South, they don’t forget you when you’ve up and died–in fact, they visit you more often. But there are quintessential rules […]