Why Valentine’s Day Is A Fake, And Worse

by Kevin Burton    A co-worker of Jeannette’s told her that he and his wife didn’t celebrate Valentine’s day, calling it a “fake holiday.”    Many people agree. But as it turns out it’s worse than that.    “Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of …

Chiefs Haters, Have Some Wings, Get A Life

by Kevin Burton    Here’s my super-cordial, Super Sunday invitation, going out to all you Chiefs hates out there.    You are invited to take all that refs-and-Chiefs bellyaching, and put it in a place where the sun doesn’t shine, namely the Louisiana Super Dome, venue for tonight’s Super Bowl LIX (59)!    You thought …

Remembering The Man, Jimmy Carter

by Kevin Burton    Classes let out on the day of Jimmy Carter’s inauguration as the 39th President of the United States. So I watched part of it in the library at the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus.    Carter and his wife Rosalynn famously got out of their limousine and walked …

Be Thankful To God, Stop Complaining

by Kevin Burton    I caught myself in a lie last week. Christmas music, in a manner of speaking, revealed it to me.    Stay with me here.    I have heard people talk about when it was OK to begin playing Christmas music each year, after Thanksgiving, end of November, whatever. But I haven’t …

Love To You Who Are Grieving On Christmas

by Kevin Burton    It’s deeply upsetting to me that my mother was in a hospital, alone on Christmas Eve, in what could easily be her last Christmas season.    There isn’t a phone in her room and I don’t believe she grabbed her cell phone for an emergency trip to ER Monday night. So …

Christmas “Reax”: Go Now, With Haste

by Kevin Burton    Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Savior of the world. We wrap it in things that don’t matter a whit. But Jesus is the whole story.    He’s the whole story all the time by the way, not just at Christmas.     The story of the birth …

Test Your Knowledge Of The Birth of Jesus

by David LangerfeldThe Daily Encourager    How well do you know the Biblical story of Jesus’ birth? Do you know what’s really in the scriptures, or have you assumed some things about the story from all the Christmas stories you’ve read and Christmas plays you’ve seen?    Take the following IQ Quiz. See how well …

The Spiritual Danger Of Procrastination

by Kevin Burton    Twice on Page 7 I have taken a light-hearted look at procrastination, in essence winking at the practice.    No real harm if all we’re talking about is cleaning out the garage.    In the spiritual realm however, putting off important decisions can go from the comedic to the tragic. And …

A Way Americans Can Avoid Fascist President

by Silvia Marchetti CNN    While many communities around the world have been wondering what to make of Donald Trump’s presidential re-election, a village on the Italian island of Sardinia has sniffed a potential opportunity.    Like many other places in rural Italy, Ollolai has long been trying to persuade outsiders to move in to revive …

That Christmas Creep Will Get You Every Time

by Kevin Burton    Our rule about Christmas music is none before Dec. 1.  For Christmas decorations, anything goes as long as it’s after Thanksgiving.    We should perhaps clean up that Christmas rulebook inconsistency.    Also, most years we buy a new Christmas ornament for the tree. We have enough ornaments for at least …