Mesquite, Chipotle And More Aztec Words

by Kevin Burton    Most of the English words borrowed from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, have ended up on our dinner plates.    The “tl” consonant cluster common in that language is a mouthful for English speakers, but judging from these words, what a tasty mouthful!    We started our Nahuatl feast Friday, …

“Memphis” And The Poetry Of Chuck Berry

by Kevin Burton    You knew any rock and roll road trip would have to stop by Memphis, right?  Well, we are using a Chuck Berry vehicle to get there.    We’re going Coast to Coast this summer, talking rock and roll history by means of songs with a state or city in the title. …

Childfree By Choice: No Kids, No Regrets

by Kevin Burton    When Mrs. Groves went around the room asking us fifth graders how many children we wanted to have when we grew up, my answer was two, three or at the most four. This was part of sex education class.    Well, you really shouldn’t hold a person to anything they say …

The Discipline Of Prayer Is The Hardest

by Dane Massey    (Dane Massey is the former Pastor of Mulvane Christian Church. He is now in ministry in Houston, Texas.)      Spent this week thinking on fervent, earnest, effectual, prevailing, passionate prayer.  It has taken God forty-some years, three godly women who are now with Him, and adversities without number to develop in …

Good News From the Math Classroom

by Kevin Burton    Today on Page 7 we do the math.    I found two math-related stories on the Good News Network. The first shows that students did better in math when music is incorporated into the lessons.    “A new study explored the causal role that music engagement has on student achievement in …

Chocolate And More Words From The Aztecs

by Kevin Burton    If you have an appetite for words and/or dinner and dessert, you’re in the right place.    One of the recent Words at Play columns from Merriam-Webster featured words from the Aztecs, who lived in central Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest.     The language they spoke (and about …

It’s All About The Cats At A Cat Café

by Kevin Burton    This is a fun story, filled with cute kitties, but with a serious bummer at the end.    On the first part of our June vacation, we came across Papa’s Cat Café in Columbia, Missouri.  It was easily the most interesting tourist attraction we read about it mid-Missouri.    I thought …

Motown’s Move To LA Stifled The Magic

by Kevin Burton    There is more than a little irony in the 1971 Jackson 5 song “Going Back To Indiana.” That makes for an easy choice to make Indiana a destination for our summer rock and roll road trip, Coast to Coast.    For Coast to Coast we are talking rock and roll history, …

On Becoming A New Creation In Christ

by Kevin Burton    In certain animated cartoons you have seen, someone waves his arms, pronounces “presto change-o” and this becomes that. The old thing becomes a different thing.     Is it that way for a believer, becoming a new creation is Christ: Yes and no.    Faith in and surrender to Jesus Christ, converts …

My Big Feat, Finding Cleats For My Big Feet

by Kevin Burton    Don’t know how much I will play at the 2023 Beep Baseball World Series or how well I will do. But I know one thing: My shoes will fit.    And that’s a very good start.    My high school math teacher wrote down “Yale” as a suggestion for where I …