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TWO RANDOM THOUGHTS
The first random thought is that we are making some sort of progress in terms of imagining supernatural creatures sending storms and hurricanes to disrupt our lives. At the moment those of us on the east coast of the United States are preparing to deal with Hurricane Irene. It threatens to uproot our trees, blow…
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HEY, MICHELE, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION
This essay is being dictated on Sunday, the morning after the straw poll in Iowa was taken. In the straw poll, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul each finished with about 30% of the vote. She was fractionally better than Ron Paul, so she claimed a victory. Mind you, this is 30% of the vote in…
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THE POWER OF PRAYER
A casual observer reading the title of this essay might conclude that it is a religious essay. But that is not the case at all. I believe that upon further examination, the contents of this essay will be revealed to be totally political. I have nothing against doing religious essays, but in this case it…
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THE DESCENDENTS OF ABRAHAM ARE LOUSY CUTTERS OF GRASS
In mid-July of 2011, a giant dome formed over the eastern states. The result was several days of temperatures exceeding 90°. On one of those Sundays during the period of the dome, a major sound reached my ears. It was a one-lung engine, which was mounted on a lawnmower. The sound came from my immediate…
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MAKING THINGS EVEN
There are several conditions and practices in the world that authorize men to have multiple wives. In the western world where Christianity prevails, we limit one man to one woman at a time. A knock on Mormonism is that for years the Mormons insisted that their followers could have multiple wives. It seems that Orrin…
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TERROR, COMPASSION AND HOPE
Those of you who parse these pages of Ezra’s Essays will recall the name of Sven Lernevall. Mr. Lernevall is an accomplished fellow who speaks his native tongue of Swedish. Also he and his wife Ella speak flawless English. Interestingly, the accent that he brings to the English language is of the American variety. I…
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WARM WEATHER
During my enlistment in the United States Army, it was my fortune to wind up spending an inordinate time with the forces of the British Empire. I did not care much for the big shots such as Jumbo Wilson, he being of the rank of general or admiral. On the other hand, I tended to…
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A RIBALD HYMN
As most of you probably know by this time, my enlistment with the American Army resulted in my spending a great deal of time with the British. Specifically, it was to fly combat support for the valiant efforts of the British Eighth Army. From time to time, the troopers from the British Eighth Army sang…
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ON TYING ONE’S SHOES
I have been blind for more than six years and there are certain things that interest and amuse me. One of the facts that is of interest and amusement to me concerns tying my shoes. Sighted people have no trouble in performing this service. But non-sighted people have a bigger problem with tying their shoes.…
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ANSWERING THE CALL
If my sources of news are correct, there will be a large meeting in Houston called by the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry. I gather that he has made arrangements to set aside a Saturday in August when he will conduct a national day of prayer. The most important element of the national day of…