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From the first whiff, the cafeteria's "homemade" soup wafted us back to prior bowls of soup, slowly sipped and savored in the "tight money" days of 1967. As newly married college students and constantly cash-constrained, vegetable soup at the University of Arkansas student union constituted the consummate power lunch. Grocery lists from that era derived from [...] English novelist Graham Henry Greene described children's books of his day: "Behind the complicated details of the world stand the simplicities: God is good, the grown-up man or woman knows the answer to every question, there is such a thing as truth, and justice is as measured and faultless as a clock." In real life, too, [...] Memories prod me to consider how to best approach a new opportunity: teaching writing at a local college. In particular, how should grades be assigned to students of unequal ability? An intimidating panoply of grading schemes unfolded during my first year in college. English composition reeked of whim and caprice whenever a paper with hardly a [...] The song of life echoes one consistent refrain, "Advance and retreat, advance and retreat, advance and retreat…." And our hearts oft embrace the unspoken hope–perhaps even the fervent prayer–that advances eventually outweigh retreats. This axiomatic certainty manifests itself early on: life doesn't unfold in smooth increments of either time or experience. "There seems something else in [...] Flipping though the scrapbook pages of our memories just a week ago turned up images of several mothers. Page one opened at Deal Cemetery in Ladelle, Ark. Mary's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are all buried there. And though never a mother herself, our daughter Jenny occupies a spot as well, awaiting the ultimate arrival of her mother [...] Inconspicuously penned like a hurried postscript to a lengthy letter, we find what is perhaps the greatest understatement ever made, unadorned and unpretentious. The sum total of this incomprehensible little notation expends only five words in the Bible: "He made the stars also." (Genesis 1:16). The naked eye can discern only about 3,000 stars at any [...] The threads of our lives intertwine in surprising ways. And if we begin to gently unravel them, we may discover how they tangle in common experience. Consider this letter my wife recently wrote to her niece. The hand on my shoulder gently shook away the deep sleep. "Get up," my dad whispered. "I hear it again." For several nights a peculiar sound had awakened him, not by its loudness, for it wasn't. But it belonged elsewhere, to the war perhaps, where sporadic, high-pitched tones reminiscent of Morse code might not have seemed [...] George Frederick Handel's career was afflicted with setbacks. Twice bankrupt, he had fallen out of favor with audiences, and financial woes mounted. With such strains upon him, he plunged into the task of writing Messiah. Servants reported that for the 24-day duration of the project, his food was often untouched, and his manuscript was frequently [...] Life has led us through deep waters of painful transition but a few times. The latest (and most difficult thus far) is at flood stage. The birth of our first child initially launched us into the rough seas of change. Her profound retardation, blindness and a host of associated infirmities complicated the journey. But the remarkable [...] |
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Copyright 2012 James McAlister - All Rights Reserved |
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