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I recently spent about five months apartment shopping. With the end date of my lease looming, I could feel the pressure growing about where I would call home. I was prepared to settle for somewhere that was probably overpriced, in a location that was…
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While vacationing in Wisconsin last week, and out on a morning stroll, I spotted a large red tow truck beside a service garage. What caught my eye and prompted me to snap a photo was the advertising decal across its windshield: 23-Hr Towing. I didn’t…
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Despite a good rainstorm early this week, we are experiencing a bit of a drought here in southeastern Iowa. Its impact on the farmers is worrisome and they are grateful for any centimeter of water that falls on the shoots of corn growing. And while o…
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St. Paul is abuzz this week with Vacation Bible School. Upwards of 150 children are responding to the Hero Hotline. Inspired by SuperMeer – hardly a mere cat – and “The Professor,” they are learning to be God’s superheroes for the world. At the heart…
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The term “work/life balance” has become somewhat of a buzzword over the last few years, especially among the Millennial and Gen Z populations. In general, work/life balance seems to serve as a catchall phrase for how we ration the scarce commodity of…
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One of the most important things I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer ever said relates to human prosperity. In an autumn 1931 sermon, this German pastor and theologian told his congregation that seven million people in Germany would be without jobs that wint…
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I moved to Davenport nine months ago. Nine months of time this year feels shorter than nine months last year. It’s a wake-up call, really, how on one end, there’s an objective measurement of time; the speed of sand falling from the top to the bottom…
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Throughout his 14 seasons of playing professional basketball, Rick Barry was known for a lot of things, many of them not good, but chief among them was his ability to make a free throw shot. In 1975, Barry played one game where he successfully made 1…
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A recent news story said that women are now advised to have mammograms regularly beginning at age 40 or 45, not at 50, as previously had been the guideline. At my recent annual physical, my doctor noted that a scan for aortic aneurysm is recommended…
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I love clarity. Waking up in the morning and having a clear sense of the day ahead strikes me as a good way to live. It seems so right to want clear insight for whatever problems the day may bring. That I could have a clear view of how things fit or…
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I first learned about this funny German word “gestalt” in a college video production course. “Gestalt,” meaning “shape” or “form,” refers to the ways in which individual parts come together to make an original whole. Filmmakers use the principles of…
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Kansas City, the city I called home for four years, made headlines this week because of a tragedy. Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old boy, was sent to pick up his younger brothers from a friend’s house. He mistakenly rang the doorbell at Northeast 115th Stree…