Author Archives: jackpelham

I must have missed that memo from Jesus to the Christians―long revered and frequently alluded to (though strangely, never cited)―where he tells them that they must passively put up with the nonsense of others, and where he explains abashedly that … Continue reading →

At some point, won’t you be forced to face the fact that, even if you are the perfect patriot, fortified with all wisdom and diligence, the corruption in your own party runs so deep and wide as to reduce your … Continue reading →

Technically, there’s a differenceBetween don’t-care and don’t-care-much.If if you’re on the receiving end,They’re pretty much going to feel the same.

“If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it … Continue reading →

Perhaps there were other indicatorsThat they were not listening,But the most obvious always seemed to beThat they simply were not reading his book.

He had hitched his wagon to the church,And the church, to the nation―And off they went, waving their flagsAnd singing their songs,And having no real need of JesusBeyond some name-dropping here and there―Which seemed pious enough to them, even ifIt … Continue reading →

The one Christian thinks his Christianity was fully settled from the get-go, and that all he has to do to please God from here on out is simply to be. The second thinks that what happened from the get-go was … Continue reading →

I could marvel at how our speciesHas learned that some thingsAre in fact so utterly important As to warrant the great labor and expenseOf building a lighthouse to help the captains Find their way without incident―

You have been happening to meFor quite some time now.

The good habits out of whichI so habitually getAre the best evidenceFor the hypothesis that This life is, in fact,A self-guided training program,The point and import of whichIs not at some timesAs clear to me as at others.