I had not been on my bike for quite a few weeks, so I was looking forward to a good ride on Saturday morning. Maybe it is the feeling of freedom or the wind in my face, but for some reason, the stresses of life seem to disappear for those few moments I am riding […]

When my grandfather was about 12 years old, he left his family in Italy and sailed around the world. I remember sitting on his knee and hearing stories, in very broken English, of his adventures aboard the ship. I guess it was on one of those trips that he heard of America, the Land of Opportunity. For […]

The opening line of the last book of the Torah gives us a clue as to why this book is called Deuteronomy. In Greek, Deuteronomy literally translates “second law.” But the Hebrew name of the book is actually Sefer Devarim, which means “These are the words…” Thus, the opening line of Deuteronomy, “These are the […]

In 2006, the results of a study conducted by San Francisco’s Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic created lots of conversations and even more jokes at the expense of women everywhere. The study claimed that women speak an average of 20,000 words per day while men spoke a mere 7,000 words per day. For a few […]

For as long as I can remember I knew that Missouri is “The Show Me State”, I even know the story behind the nickname (or at least the story that is the most popular). Much of the credit for popularizing the term, however, goes to Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver of Cape Girardeau County. Mr. Vandiver […]

Pentecost was originally a Jewish feast that concluded the 50 days of Passover. It celebrated the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. Today it is when the Jewish people celebrate the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.  This Sunday, we will celebrate Pentecost. And while we […]

Greetings! One of the greatest speeches ever given is also one of greatest tributes to American soldiers. It is a speech given at Gettysburg by President Lincoln before Memorial Day was recognized as an official holiday. In November 1863, while the Civil War was still in full force, Lincoln stood at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery […]