News you may have missed: The default tendency of our bodies’ *antigens to combat previously known invaders, but not necessarily their newer mutations. An example: Those infected with earlier forms of COVID19—or immunized against Delta, Omnicron and their viral cousins—might not develop or maintain the antigens necessary to combat newly emerging variants. Epidemiologists have dubbed thisMORE...
I sometimes award myself the imaginary degree, an MA in Obvious. It’s my way of reminding myself how unhelpful it can be to speak or write about matters already well-known, perhaps insulting the intelligence and insights of readers and listeners. This tendency may be a personality trait among those of us who have lived longer. Accumulating experience and expertise over our lifetimes—and with anMORE...
One of my favorite memorized Scriptures is the one about *“a roaring lion seeking to devour you.” My Lutheran elementary school teachers explained to us how Satan is always tempting and prowling like a fearsome—and hungry—lion. The teachers’ warnings were a helpful blessing. One major problem: 99.9% of life’s temptations don’t present themselves as noisome feline predators. If they did, I’d hearMORE...
Sometimes vengeance seems appropriate, even righteous. Great crimes against humanity, rampant selfishness, persistent evil intent, shameless dishonesty, callous harming of others—all feel like legitimate reasons for 1comeuppance. The greater the crimes, the louder the calls for retribution. This is an ageless notion. In ancient Greek mythology, these concepts hearken back to TheMORE...
It’s a well-established axiom that practical wisdom comes to older adults as they reflect back on lifetimes of experience. I have wondered how that truism might relate to our sinfulness—whether we who are older can still experience any of the “seven deadly sins.” To review: those transgressions— originally identified by the *Desert Fathers—include greed, lust, sloth, gluttony, wrath, pride andMORE...
When last I wrote about my Bulk Mail folder, it was an easy target for mockery. Its repetitive, unimaginative contents felt like a bad joke told by someone with no sense of humor. Since that previous entry, other thoughts about this recurring e-nuisance have come to mind. Before I begin another Deletion Session, these observations…. Like a rogue’s gallery—a hallway of Wanted Posters—specters ofMORE...
Over the past few months, I’ve felt like my troubled outlook about the world may be gradually eroding the rest of my life. Others have shared similar feelings: That we’re wandering through the darkness of our vulnerabilities. That we’ve lost our sense of emotional buoyancy. That the confining skin of these thought patterns is hard to shed. To help sort out those feelings, I’ve reread theMORE...
I’ve always been just a bit concerned about the part of the Ten Commandments story that notes God’s “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me.” (Exodus 20:5 KJV) It has never seemed fair that someone could be punished for what their ancestors did so many years ago. Fair or not, though, this may be true biologicallyMORE...
Current political discourse includes frequent references to “unhinged,” describing a wild, uncontrolled state of mind—sometimes accompanied by ranting, disconnection from reality or paranoid delusions. The term has evolved beyond its original definition—“lacking a hinge mechanism.” As is sometimes true, the meanings can get interesting when —see 1privilege— literal descriptions turn metaphoricalMORE...
BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.