Opinion Archive

The summer of 2021 appears to be developing as a period of liberation between two pandemics with restrictions on activities.

One of the many advantages of living in the panhandle Florida are the numerous choices for summer activities.

I was in the first grade at Sacred Heart Catholic school when Sister Eileen read to us from Exodus 16, “The Israelites called the food manna. It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey wafers.”

I didn’t hear anything else she read or said. In my little kid-brain I was scurrying around the wilderness gathering up this mysterious candy God had provided.

Depending on who you ask, change may be good, but it isn’t cheap.

This week, the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners will be discussing how to replace the legal firm that has been in place since the county attorney was fired last December.

Navarre and Santa Rosa County are always busy places and having a tropical storm peeking at us always dials that up.

We spent time looking at Tropical Storm Fred, which could have gone anywhere, but did not choose us. We got lucky and hours after it made landfall in Cape San Blas, the sun was shining over Navarre’s beautiful beaches.

I’ve noticed lately that people tend to take what the non-experts have to say and view it as the truth.

It doesn’t matter how ridiculous the opinion might be.

There is the often-quoted biblical admonition “By your fruits you will be known,” which commonly comes up when discussing behavior.

In other words, a reputation will ultimately be based on the deeds and accomplishments of an individual, family or group.

Growing up in what is now a bursting-at-the-seams Chicago suburb, I lived next door to a cottage without indoor plumbing.

The cottage had been the goat shed of the homestead in our rural area and, as children, we were fascinated by its primitive plumbing.

One challenge of preaching is finding interesting, real-life sermon illustrations to aid the hearers’ understanding.

Recently, I was provided with one such illustration as I was preaching. My sermon was about Jesus walking on water as recorded in the Gospel of Mark.