Feature Columnists

As I was growing up, I was very aware of gardens. My grandparents would take me out to the back lot and I would watch as they picked tomatoes and beans. I would pick a few, but got bored very easily and decided to run and jump in the dirt. Now that was fun...

Are you amazed at how you can go from doing one thing to performing another? If your life is anything like mine, you know that things become very sticky sometimes. The happenings that take place, daily, sometimes weigh me down. If I don't watch myself, I can become overwhelmed and pressured. I...

On a recent Friday, I felt tired. More than tired, actually; I felt exhausted, the kind where I questioned my ability to physically do one more thing. My strength was gone, and my will was gone; I felt physically, mentally and spiritually depleted. It had been a busy, hard week; I was done. I...

In a few months, I'll be 61 years old. I like this time in my life, perhaps more than any other time that has come before. Recently, I learned something that rattled my general sense of equanimity. Interested in family history, lately I've been investigating my maternal roots, ancestors I've never...

I found this dead European hornet about a week ago. It was lying on the front end loader of a John Deere tractor. I do not know how or why it died. Maybe our recent extensive wet weather played a part. Maybe a summer tanager caught and killed it. The summer tanager is a native songbird that eats...

The frog I've photographed here is a water frog that is at its northernmost range in Southeast Missouri. It is slightly larger than the better known leopard frog and much smaller than the well-known bullfrog. This is a bronze frog. It is closely related to, sounds similar to and lives in the same...

Recently, and quite unexpectedly, my regular routine of the day was interrupted by a reunion with a friend who lives and works on the other side of the world. Though we did wonder how either of us are old enough to have children attending college, our conversations picked up as if no time had...

How many are bored with their life? Do we want a better house or, particularly, a different job, one that we look forward to each day rather than dread? Think we'd be happier if we lived within another environment, or maybe a change in our church or religion is what we need...

Father Bill Kottenstette used to always say it to me when we talked about understanding God's will for my life: God wants what we want. At the time, it seemed too good to be true, and I barely dared to believe it. It seemed incredible to think the desires of my heart naturally a part of me, the way...

On the frontage of Kent Library on the Southeast Missouri State University campus, no fewer than 17 names stand as silent sentinels of literature. Nine face Academic Hall. Four are on the Baptist Student Center side of the library; four more are on the University Center side of the building. Some...

A few days ago I found a pine tree with limbs hanging close to the ground. I noticed that new pinecones were forming near the ends of some of the limbs. It was interesting to find the limb I show you here. It has an old cone from last year still hanging on. Beside it to the right are a couple of...

One of the best desserts on Earth is fresh from the oven blackberry cobbler. I remember picking wild blackberries as a boy. I also remember sitting at my grandmother's table and eating blackberry cobbler and homemade ice cream. Nothing compares! Wild blackberry fruits can be small and bitter or...

I am really good at starting projects. Finishing them is another story. I am sure that I am not the only one who has this issue. Thankfully God is not that way. God always finishes what he begins. Philippians 1:6 says, "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue...

I don't know about you, but I am tired of rain. (Don't tell anybody that, because it may haunt me in the near future). Let me rephrase that. A lot of landscape plants are tired of the rain. Too much rain causes plants to suffer, unless of course we are talking about swamp and water plants. The...

The other day, I had a chance to walk through a vacant building on South Main Street in Cape -- a building that is on the National Register of Historic Places. It used to house the former B'Nai Israel synagogue. Remnants of the former congregation remain even though the worshipping community ceased...

"I'm going home. Home sweet home," and "There's no place like home" are all phrases we hear, regarding home and our attachment or distaste for it. Recently, I had the pleasure to read a retirement letter written by a friend and former co-worker. In the letter Debbie thanked everyone for their love...

I recently heard someone mention that Catholics believe only Catholics will be in Heaven. This is not true. If it were, it would be a pretty sad and self-congratulatory religion to follow. Nope. Instead, what the Catholic Church teaches is so incredibly exciting: the Church teaches salvation is...

This spring has been cooler and wetter than usual in Southeast Missouri. This has produced a perfect scenario for nuts planted by squirrels to sprout and quickly put down a healthy taproot. Conversely, this super-saturated soil makes it a good time to pull up weeds and tree sprouts...

I was lucky the morning of May 6 when this little bird flew into my location. It is a common songbird, but not an easy one to photograph. In fact if you see one it will probably be a quick fleeting meeting. This bird is a Kentucky warbler. It is a migratory bird that visits Southeast Missouri in...

May is not only for showers and flowers but also graduations. All of our graduates, high school and college, are excited about their bright futures. In Judges, Chapter 6, however, we meet a young man named Gideon who is not excited about his future. When we first meet him, he is hiding in a cave...

When Jesus returns to his apostles in the locked room the first time after his resurrection, Thomas is not there. This throwaway phrase in John 20:26 (NAB) that opens up the story about Jesus' second appearance to the group is so interesting to me: "Now a week later." This phrase invites me into...

The Oklahoma state tree is a small tree that grows to about 30 feet tall. It is also one of Missouri's most beautiful small trees. This tree is called the redbud tree. In springtime it produces an over abundance of small blossoms that are actually more purple or pink than red...

To say we're retreating within can mean different things to different people. How you perceive the meaning of the word determines whether it is a good thing or unfavorable. I find the idea of retreating within myself to be very reassuring and comforting--like my own oasis of church, friendships,...

I am a not an atheist. I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. -- Albert Einstein Much of what is generally known of Einstein, arguably western civilization's greatest genius, is that he had a shock of unruly, white hair and is responsible for science's most fascinating equation: e=mc squared. ...

I've been coaching my daughter's volleyball team. I have two qualifications to be a volleyball coach. One, I know a little bit about volleyball. And two, I said, "Yes, I am willing to coach." Armed with my stellar coaching resume, we set off for a great season...

I found this plant on a forested hillside under tall deciduous trees. The area was crowded with Christmas ferns and other woodland wildflowers such as purple trillium, Dutchman's breeches and ginger. My photo shows the unique leaves and flower of a plant called goldenseal...

The purple trillium is a wildflower native to Southeast Missouri and the eastern part of the United States. It is also called red trillium and wake robin. The flower petals are almost always various shades of purple, but occasionally this plant may be found with yellow or white petals...

How often do you experience the joy of Easter? Is it that one Sunday each year when you celebrate? The Easter bunny comes and hides eggs, you gather with family, and attend church? You may even buy new clothes for that day. Most Christians, though, celebrate in a far more meaningful way, because...

I always identify deeply with the stories in the Gospels that detail what happened after Jesus' Passion, that time in between the disciples' discovery of the empty tomb and God sending the gifts of the Holy Spirit and understanding to them. I love the humanity represented in these stories, the...

Christians all across America will probably have one or more Easter lilies adorning the altar in their church on Sunday. Their beautiful white blooms remind us of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning and of the white gown that he wore when meeting with his disciples after his resurrection...

"This world would be the best of all possible worlds if there was no religion in it!" -- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, April 19, 1817. I happened upon this quote while perusing an old periodical in my university office in Carnahan Hall, notably (for trivia buffs), the oldest academic...

Today is Palm Sunday. The day on the Christian calendar marking when Jesus was welcomed into the city of Jerusalem by a crowd waving palm branches, a symbol of victory, and shouting "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Palm Sunday also marks the beginning of Easter week...

This photo shows close up what the face of a red tail hawk looks like. You can see here that this bird's mouth can open very wide. The horizontal yellow on either side of the beak show the outer width of this bird's mouth. The top part of its beak curves out and down coming to a sharp point. You...

I recently got to spend a few days in Portland, Oregon. The word I would use to describe Portland is "kind." Portland is kind and open. I noticed this, especially, in three instances: people engaged with me, smiling, saying hello and asking questions on the sidewalks and public transportation. Each...

Have you ever pondered why you love and how do you love others? What causes you to love another human being, pet, or another object of your affection or love? After being around various individuals and listening to their conversations and opinions, I wondered what someone had to do or become before...

Evolution doesn't need an adjective. When the word is uttered, people seem to know what is meant. Properly, though, there ought to be a modifier. Folks mean "species" evolution, the notion that all species are related and gradually change over time. ...

Spring is a good time to catch one of North America's largest beetles, the giant water scavenger beetle. If you leave an outside night light on for a few hours, you are likely to attract this beetle. During winter this insect has the ability to survive buried in the mud at the bottom of a pond. In...

I took this photo on March 24. Deer tracks in moist soil caught my attention. When I noticed a small garden snail crawling near one deer track, I encouraged it toward the track with a small dead leaf stem. Slowly the snail advanced until it finally went out on the span of mud that had squished...

Well, it's spring. Jonquils are beginning to bloom. I have seen some magnolias that have flower buds beginning to expand and will be blooming soon. What a promising time of the year. Unfortunately if you are a lover of a nice green lawn without weeds' then you need to be on the watch. This is also...

As the weeks of March pass, native wildflowers take their turn blooming in the Southeast Missouri woods. On St. Patrick's Day, I photographed this cluster of beautiful little flowers. This plant is called bloodroot. Its leaves often have the appearance of fingers encircling a single delicate...

Now that Lent 2019 is in full swing, I'd like to hand out some participation trophies. For those who may be unaware, a participation trophy is a crippling idea that has crept into America's national consciousness. The notion of a participation trophy could be called the spiritual equivalent of...

I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I felt the rush of joy as it swooped within my being. The air I breathed was like what I was feeling -- the calming breeze of the fresh, sun-covered park and my neighborhood. All was peaceful, yet vibrant with expectation -- much as Easter will be, in a...

It can be easy to get caught up in making plans for the future as a way to try to understand it, as a way to escape from the present, as a way to feel we know our purpose and can adhere to it. It can also be easy to make mapping out a plan for the future more difficult than it needs to be, focusing...