Reality imitating art imitating reality

April 1, 2014

A black gentleman from Akron purportedly claims to be more fearful of seeing several black teens walking toward him than if they were white teens.Who am I to question another man's phobias? They're real, but unworthy of imitation.In another context the same man might be even more scared by a group of white teens walking toward him . . . say, in a small, white town in the Deep South. The point is that our personal fears constitute relative truths and no more.Some say all stereotypes have a grain of truth in them, but don't we all have more than a grain of sinner in us? Who wants to be ...

Listening goes a long way

March 28, 2014

There, I said it. I know that makes me a crazy person, or at least it makes me feel that way, because everyone I know is working out practically all the time. But I just don't like working out - I don't like how much time it takes, and no, it's not always worth it immediately after.One muscle that I am exercising a lot is this one: learning to understand people far different from me.Since returning to the Mahoning Valley, I have had to work harder than ever before at understanding people; this is ironic, given that I grew up here.I work in downtown Warren and rub shoulders with people of ...

Christ can make one cleaner than ‘clean’

March 28, 2014

"I've been clean for six months!" These words are not uncommon among those who reside at our Rescue Mission in Youngstown.Such testimonies are literally applauded during a chapel service in which someone is celebrating freedom from alcohol or drugs. "Clean" means they have not had a drink or drug "fix" for six months, which is a tremendous milestone to one who knows the devastating power of drug addiction."Clean" is a beautiful word. In the physical realm, it speaks of purity, health, clarity, freedom from disease. What is more powerfully descriptive than Jesus "cleansing the 10 ...

Southern fried opinions

March 25, 2014

Recently, my wife and I visited friends in Florida. We traversed the Sunshine State about half way down the peninsula from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Shores. No, we are not ''snowbirds'' (but we encountered many of them).Reading the local daily newspapers there, I was drawn to the ''Opinion Page'' and immersed myself in the editorials, of course. The old saying by Tip O'Neill claims that ''all politics is local.'' Perhaps, an addendum to that could be, ''and all local politics are universal.''For example, a special congressional election was being contested in the western counties, ...

Going to the dogs… for therapy

March 21, 2014

Up until five years ago, I had only heard about therapy dogs. I didn't know anyone personally who had a dog involved in that that kind of work.I had heard there was a program at Trumbull Memorial Hospital, but I hadn't seen it in action. Then one day, while working at Northside Medical Center, my boss asked me if I wanted to go with her to greet the dogs! I leaped from my seat - who wouldn't want to go see some dogs?There they were - five owners, five dogs and a pet rat huddled in the hoody of one of the owners - he was a secret. The dogs were all sizes, from about 15 pounds up to 120 ...

Springtime means good fishing

March 18, 2014

It is with some reservation that I give away my best fishing advice.But then again sharing is caring. So here goes: the most delicious fish in our local lakes, such as walleye and crappie, are fairly easy to catch in the springtime because they are getting ready to spawn.Spawning is how bony fish reproduce. They typically find a suitable place for a nest or simply disperse their eggs in the shallows. Once a suitable mate is within a fin's length away they have a go at procreation.But before they can spawn, bony fish must prepare by eating a lot. Both the females' eggs and males' milt ...