Category Archives: Christian Living

The Incredible Wealth of Scraping By

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Doc Arnett

Making my way across the freshly mowed grass in the last hour of daylight, I see Ben and his mom outside their tiny, rough apartment. Smoke drifts out from a small grill and Ben is bent over the front wheel of a small bicycle. He looks my way, straightens up and waves, “Hi, Doc!” Continue reading →

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Driving Rain

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Doc Arnett

It is seldom in life that we gain greater advantage by pushing blindly ahead, not compelled by faith and wisdom, but driven by the stubbornness of our own determination.
Continue reading →

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A Preparation of Peace

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Doc Arnett

I step out the back door into the pleasant air of morning. A dark blue edge shows in the sky, high and to the east, tracing the form of the passing storm front. The horses look up from the low edge of the paddock. They swing around and head toward me, heads bobbing in fast walk. Continue reading →

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A Higher Compliment

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Doc Arnett

It is not in the accolades of easy friends
that we gain the higher ground,
nor in the shallow flattery of those
fixed upon their own ends. Continue reading →

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A Closer Witness

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Doc Arnett

There is no sense of sky this morning,
just a low-lying grayness that closes in,
shutting off the sense of anything
beyond the near bluffs and hills
just past the creek. Continue reading →

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Reflecting on Fifty Years of Change in Societal Beliefs

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Doc Arnett

Some folks say “it’s only weather”
and I’d say that most days
it is sort of trivial conversation
but then again, I guess tsunamis and hurricanes
are weather, too.
Continue reading →

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A Hard Spring

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Doc Arnett

And in that returning, I believe her celebration will sound a stronger chorus, resonating with the bark and blooms of the Appalachians, a full resounding with all that God has made and done. Continue reading →

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Neighbors

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Doc Arnett

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an ambulance over at the old apartment building near our house. At the time, I thought I should go over a while later and see if there was anything that we could do for the family. Continue reading →

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Well-Grounded

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Doc Arnett

It is not that I am nostalgic about the beginnings of the Twentieth Century; I have no desire to land in the swirling fevers that followed the Civil War, Bleeding Kansas or the age of excess that preceded WWI and the Great Depression. I do, however, like to see the occasional downtown that does not look like an architectural junkyard. Continue reading →

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Bailout

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Doc Arnett

On the other hand, being a privileged person in a privileged society, I believe there are other options. I could contact my elected officials and propose that this section of the highway should be re-routed in such a way as to eliminate any irritation to me and inflict it upon my neighbors. Continue reading →

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