Jack Pelham

Not only can the smart person
Anticipate the logical implications
Of a proposition without being told,
But he or she can also understand
The authority and importance of the logic.

Freedom is always attacked
By tyrants and scoundrels
Who have their own uses for mankind.

Even the hypocrite can preach against hypocrisy.

Just because you heard the sermon
And found it convicting
Does not mean that
At the end of the day,
You will do well to
Be like the preacher.

Today’s the day we’d rather not think about,
For if we did, we’d have to face the fact
That there is wickedness here
That far surpasses the vengeance
Of some foreign enemy.

IN BRIEF: I plan to start teaching Reality-Based Thinking courses and seminars with live-or-later online offerings, starting later this Fall (2022) or in early 2023. Also, I may begin sometime this Fall taking on local students for beginning guitar, for voice, and possibly for beginning clarinet and trombone.

If you want to get anything good done,
There’s just no way around having
People of good character to do it.

Much of our history, ironically, is the story
Of people searching for another way—
But not finding it—
And of lots of people wondering why
Things are so lousy—
Never having perceived the obvious
Cause of their troubles.

There could be more, but here are two common reasons the boy can’t swim.

1. Nobody ever taught him how.
2. He never figured it out himself.

It’s a funny thing how we Christians can be gloriously right about the one thing,
and still quite wrong about another. One can put his finger on a truth you should have seen
a thousand times over by now, and still not be seeing a right thing you’ve pointed out to others
a thousand times over the years.

Surely, there are some among us who do not love the truth at all, but are there not many who,
when they are right, are right quite on purpose, and for love of truth?

How sad, then, that still we are so wrong about so much.

Those who don’t know what pride is
Are the most likely to unjustly brand
Others with that label.

To them, “Pride” simply must be
What is behind your
Disagreeing with them,
Even if God himself
Disagrees with them, too.

If they can offend you with the truth,
Something is twisted inside you.

Indeed, why would the truth
Not be a blessing to you?