Maybe it’s just a “guy thing,” but have you ever witnessed a sporting event where the winner shouts in triumph, waving fists in the air? Game winning touchdowns are one example that comes to mind. Meanwhile, the defensive players shake their heads in disbelief and pitifully walk off the field, heads down and shoulders slouched. …
This is a great biography by Ben Yagoda. Follow Will Rogers from obscurity, growing up in Oklahoma, to become one of the most loved and admired men in America. How could one man be gifted with so much talent and energy? Follow Will as he travels across America and the world. He worked and starred …
I’ve been through some uneasy work situations where it seemed that people were against me and there was no recourse, no where to take my complaint. I felt alone, like the penguin in the picture. My situation is pretty insignificant compared to Christian martyrs of the past, believers who suffered because of their faith in …
Is God a personal God, or is He only concerned with the big picture as an impersonal force? In Psalm 40 we see that God is very personal! His wondrous deeds and thoughts are multiplied toward us. Simply pondering the physical world around us would lead us toward God. The wondrous complexity and beauty of …
The saying: “Mister can you spare a dime?” typified the poverty and despair during the depression years. My Grandmother told me that young, out of work, men would travel from place to place looking for jobs. Many times they would come to her back door to ask for a bite to eat. Those were difficult …
![[Congressional] Investigations are held just for photographers. BEVERLY HILLS, Cal., April 4, 1934](https://systemsofmerritt.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/wr49-200x300.jpg)
At all these fancy investigations, the action seems to be in the photographers’ pit. The noise from shutters clicking is almost deafening. Thousands of pictures are taken of every move made by whoever is testifying. The perfect shot is one that captures an absurd grimace or a finger brushing by the nose. This requires the most …
We don’t have to look far back into history to find oppression of innocent people. The holocaust during WWII certainly comes to mind along with many other cases of the brutal treatment of people whose only crime was being born in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Bible specifically records the oppression of …
People in Alaska and across the country have been completely baffled by the outcome of the recent Senate election there. I was too, until I came across this Will Rogers quote. You see, the only thing worse than having this particular Senator in Washington, is having the Senator in Alaska. It all makes sense now. Alaskans …
My grandmother was well into her 90s when we gathered around her. It would be the last time I would see her in this life. She looked up at me, smiling, her blue eyes twinkling, and said: “I’m ready to go.” I’ll never forget that moment. My uncle told me that the short time she …
The mules were hee-hawing the other day in the lower chamber – I mean lower stall. They were kicking and bucking something terrible. There was so much commotion and noise that there wasn’t even a need for microphones – you could hear ’em clear across town. They was all bunched up in groups, trading oats …
