Opinion

FROM THE STACKS

It may be hard to believe that, after almost two years, COVID-19 is still a major issue in the U.S. and the world over. It continues to affect our health and health care and to disrupt our daily lives. And the emergence of new variants, like omicron, can add even more uncertainty about when we’ll be able to return to more normal routines. ...

THE TRUTH WORKS

ZINN DEVOTIONAL

Dear Editor:   We may be ready to travel this holiday season, but what about our animals? Here are some tips from PETA that can help.   If animals would have to spend most of the trip in stressful transit and/or staring at the walls in a hotel room, they are likely to be happier at home with a trusted caretaker. Don’t board them at the vet, where they could catch viruses and get upset listening to the sounds of distressed patients. ...

Dear Editor: Kennett lost one of its finest citizens with the passing of Gerald Gamble and I have lost my own dearest friend of over seven decades of mutual friendship and admiration. Gerry was a faithful servant of Kennett serving on our city Council, as Mayor Pro-Tem and Chairman of our Board of Public Works where he served so diligently for over 23 years overseeing so many of the civic improvements that we enjoy today...

THE TRUTH WORKS

ZINN DEVOTIONAL

To the editor: November 15 is America Recycles Day. It’s a good time to reflect on how we all can help. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, less than one in three recyclable items is recycled. Roughly 29 percent of PET plastic, used for products like water bottles and food containers, is recycled. Less than 35 percent of aluminum is recycled. Cardboard shipping boxes are recycled at a 96.5 percent rate. ...

As of this writing (approaching mid-November), there are two more weeks left in the 2021 Church Year. November 28 begins the first day of the New Church Year, also the first Sunday of Advent, the four weeks preparatory season before Christmas. For the two weeks between All Saints Day (always November 1) and Advent, the Lectionary Readings (Scripture schedule) focus on the End Times or Jesus’ return. ...

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Dear Editor: No matter what we look like or where we come from, we value our freedom. A freedom to have a say in decisions that impact our lives — from making health care affordable to creating jobs. But now that freedom is in danger! The same faction of politicians who have endangered our lives with lies about COVID and our elections are refusing to pass laws the majority of Americans favor. ...

We all have those senior moments when we start to do something and lose the thought before we leave the room, then we have to go back to where the thought first came to us in order to retrieve it. Or when you are trying to think of someone’s name, and just a moment previously you knew, but it’s as if it just flew out a window. These little lapses of cognitive disconnect are all a part of aging; however, did you know that like all bad habits, there are some that are bad for your brain?...

The Delta Fair is returning and I couldn’t be more excited. After missing out on the fair last year due to the pandemic, this fair week is anticipated to be one of the most attended ever. I love the fair. The sights, the sounds, and the smells. The fair always brings back such wonderful memories...

College students who major in history are sometimes required to purchase a copy of the book, “Ancient Near Eastern Texts” (often cited as “ANET”). This is an anthology or collection of writings from civilizations in the Middle East from the Mesopotamian region circa (around) 2000 B.C. ...

National Comic Book Day honors the art, artists, and stories of comic books. Fans, collectors, readers, and artists come together to celebrate the day with events across the country. Therefore, if you are reading this on Saturday, September 25, you are celebrating National Comic Book Day...

The word “convert” refers to a person who has made the necessary changes to become a Christian. “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as a little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) The word “converted” is defined by Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, “to turn one’s self… from one’s course of conduct, i.e. to change one’s mind.” For the unsaved to be saved, one must change one’s beliefs about Christ, one’s mind about sin, and one’s spiritual state...

I’ve always preferred living in a small town. There’s a certain charm about it. The downtown square, the neighborhoods, and usually, multiple generations of the same families living close to another. It’s a true community. Sometimes you really do want to go where everybody knows your name...

In one Bible survey text, the prophet Jeremiah is described as “only a young man when God called to him. The Lord forbade him to marry, he had no children…was not allowed to attend funerals or parties.” His service to the Lord was forty years of rebuff, rejection, and physical abuse. ...

Fiction is a general term used to describe an imaginative work of prose, either a novel, short story, or novella. However, in the truest sense, a work of fiction is a creation of the writer’s imagination. The two main types of fiction are literary and commercial...

Are you satisfied with the direction your life is heading? Be assured, you can change the direction of your life and thereby change your future. If your life is filled with sin, unrest and hopelessness, you can decide to turn to God and begin serving the living and true God. ...

While fighting off a virus, having a good, healthy immune system is important, and aging is much the same way. However, rather than a strong immune system, lifestyle changes and better habits can stave off and help with resilience while aging. There are numerous circumstances that create a stressful environment, which leads to depression, chronic illness, and even death. ...

The twentieth anniversary of 9/11 is upon us, but in many ways it seems like yesterday. We all remember where we were when we heard the terrible news. My teenaged daughter burst into my bedroom with the unbelievable announcement of, “We’re under attack!”...

A library patron has decided to read or re-read some of the classic novels that he may have missed in high school or college. This got me thinking about my own experience with assigned reading. My high school senior English teacher, Mrs. Hartsoe, provided a list of required readings the summer before my twelfth grade year. ...

Seminary students will often find the prophet Isaiah as an inspiring example to follow. The prophet recounted his calling from God, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ And God said, ‘Go… and say to this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”’ (Isaiah 6:8-9) It is easy to infer that Isaiah would have had a difficult ministry, and he did. ...