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IT HASN’T HAPPENED YET
In the spring of the year 2010, I found myself in the offices of my favorite internist on more occasions than I would like to recall. I had no specific complaints, such as my foot hurting or my head hurting, but rather I told the internist that I simply felt lousy, lousy, lousy. The internist…
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YOUR LYING EARS
A few years back, there was a popular television program called “You Bet Your Life.” Groucho Marx, the wise-cracking brother from the Marx brothers, was the master of ceremonies for this program. There came an occasion when Groucho Marx, in response to a question from one of his participants, asked, “Are you going to believe…
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REVIVAL DAYS
This morning’s New York Times had a long story coming from Kansas City having to do with the ultimate in revivals. It described a “perpetual religious revival” which seems to be attracting a large number of followers. Unfortunately the sponsors of the perpetual revival entitled their efforts as the International House of Prayer. For this…
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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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SMOKERS MUST BE WEALTHY PEOPLE
Everyone knows that I am not a man of great wealth. The fact that I worked for 43 years for AT&T will tell you that I am not a man of considerable means. But nonetheless I smoked cigarettes for 16 years, starting at age 16. Finally I quit smoking cigarettes or, as my father put…
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THE MAN AT THE FEED STORE
This essay is about the man who works at a feed store in eastern Kansas. It comes to me from a woman who was born in Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Since her birth, she has migrated first to England and then to New York. So you see, there are international implications to this simple…
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APHASIA AND ARTHRITIS
In the last few months here in the great luscious garden state of New Jersey, we find that teachers are retiring in droves or perhaps flocks. They are retiring at this time because they sense that shortly their benefits may be curtailed or removed through the generosity of the new governor, Chris Christie. This is…
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WHO PUT THE SUGAR INTO THE CORNBREAD?
Lillie Carr was my mother, who observed the rules of rural speech and of rural cooking. She was a good woman who has now been deceased for 50 years. She was always one of my defenders, and while I was in the Army she kept a blue star in the window of her living room. …
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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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ETERNAL LIFE
The title of this essay might lead some people to assume that in my later years I have succumbed to the teachings and the blathering of Christian preachers. That clearly is not the case. It is my intention in this instance to review what might take place if a few or many of us were…