Opinions

Do you ever read a headline that makes you do a double-take? I’ll be honest, when I first saw the headline “Empty Pews are an American Health Crisis,” I thought it was clickbait. And yet, as I dug into the article, I was absolutely shocked with its contents. Two Harvard professors, one a professor of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and the other the associate director of research of the Human Flourishing Program, have done extensive quantitative research that shows the incredible benefit to our physical health when we regularly attend church.

In downtown Perry, inside a display window bedecked for the holidays, is a small plaque which reads: “Tis the Sea-Sun.”

Inevitably, there comes a Christmas when “holly, jolly” just doesn’t seem to capture the mood. This is particularly difficult for me to acknowledge because I’ve always been a big advocate of Christmas—the sacred observance and the secular one, too. I like them both.

My Facebook feed reminded me that, exactly 12 years ago, I was considering buying palazzo pants. I found this astonishing because just that day I had been looking at palazzo pants, and I had not mentioned it to Facebook -- or anyone else, except my husband, Peter. Peter did not even know what palazzo pants are.

Before venturing to our community’s Downtown Christmas Celebration, I halfway decorated the Christmas tree in our family room.

Your beloved writer is at a loss for making sense of the asylums in the air, the crazies who come unglued the moment the captain gives permission to move about the cabin. Methinks it must happen only on a full-moon or from those who are off-their-meds.

I have always liked Thanksgiving. I know its origins are dubious. I cringe a little when I think about the construction paper American Indian costumes and the happy story I learned as a child about that first Thanksgiving. I cringe a little more when I read about people missing their holiday meal so they can work at retail jobs where customers trample one another at the store’s entrance to get in and buy things. I don’t understand this, I have to confess. I have never been in such a hurry to buy anything in my life.

We just celebrated Veterans Day and are so thankful for being able to live in a country where we are not being held under the terror of a dictator. Our son is a Marine and we have always been very proud of him. He was injured in the service and has suffered every day since, but he keeps pressing forward and does the best he can. My family has personally suffered loss from war and has a deep appreciation for the sacrifice these men and women have made to protect our country.