Opinions

Covering over 70 counties in just 49 days had Beto O’Rourke as busy as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. Since he is not in office, he is free as a pointer at a duck farm. He was bound to mess up.

Despite the bad news of a national recession – if we are not in one after two down quarters, we appear destined to be going in that direction – it remains clear that businesses are still hiring. Work is plentiful for those inclined to punch the timeclock.

Through no fault of their own, business owners in Ennis and surrounding communities found themselves in an unforeseen battle that destroyed some of them. Two years ago in February, our town, even our nation, found ourselves walking normally about life.

Of all the activities of men, few gather the exaggerations of what happened during a fishing trip. In fact, its been said the farther away the location, the larger the size of the fish. Perhaps the line, “Early to bed, early to rise, fish all day, make up lies,” says it best.

My friend quietly walked me out of the classroom and said, “Are you going home before the tea this afternoon?”

Entering the life of a family is best done through the front door. When it comes to those who influence the fabric of homes, it has come from a myriad of directions. Over the past year or so, the voices seeking access to children has caused incredible concern.

I’ve decided that I’m good enough.

There is a huge difference between personal transformation and just talking and wishing. We can counsel, advise, pray, and encourage someone, but they are the only ones who can discipline their thoughts, take the initiative and chart a new direction. For example, being an optimistic person does not fall out of the air and happen on its own, but rather it’s a learned behavior similar to developing bad habits such as a negative attitude or a rude personality. We cannot prevent unpleasant things from happening to us, but we decide if they will control us, or we prevent them from controlling us. As we discover what God wants us to be, we are then faced with deciding just how much we will do. Philippians 1:6 declares, “Being confident of this very thing, that he (God) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” The writer is saying that God considers you His most valuable possession and is filled with anticipation and excitement to see you flourish and thrive according to His plans. However, it will require self-discipline to overcome fear and doubt as He will not force us to obey Him the same as He does not make us love Him.

An old adage, stick to the knitting, was the message, loud and clear this week. It was delivered from Pope Francis. Agree or not with every teaching of the Catholic Church, his dogged steadfastness is to be commended. There is plenty to learn from his position.

Cool is one of those things that opinions on the subject may greatly vary about who is and what is, but measuring up to Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, known as The Fonz, is a tough standard. The fic