I saw one of those motivational signs the other day. Some of these signs, I admit, I find annoying. But this one made me think. It read, “The world needs who you were made to be.” I later realized it was just the title of some kids’ book, and yet, it still captivated me. Can we be who we weren’t made to be? And, how, really, do we know who we are made to be, in each and every respect? The complete subjectiveness, of this line of thought, is what I find mesmerizing. There are no guidelines in this area. No one can tell us. No one has authority over what we have to decide, for ourselves, who we were made to be. We must figure this all out ourselves, listening to inner guidance only. more

Perhaps no arachnid symbolizes what’s wrong with many human’s perception of spiders better than the garden spider. more

It’s often said money makes the world go ‘round, but that’s not entirely true. What keeps it spinning is the selfless leadership and service of legions of folks who never get paid a dime — volunteers. more

Hi everyone! I am so very glad to be back for more history, fun, adventure, and excitement. more

The emerald ash borer is a small insect that’s causing big problems for Missouri’s ash trees. more

I flirted last year with returning to college to complete my master’s degree. It wouldn’t have advanced my career. That’s mostly over with. more

In April, I mentioned seeing train cars with graffiti on them. I was sad when they went away shortly after I wrote my piece. more

Is it just me, or is everyone furious? Recently, everyone has had to argue about something. People are digging trenches or standing firm in their stance in politics, religion, music, or any form of entertainment. more

Sometimes seemingly random events of life intertwine, showing their interconnectedness, and the lines which join the individual parts into a whole appear, forming a new constellation of the soul. Then, pure wonder and delight ensues. more

As another crop of freshmen begin their high school journey, I can only hope and pray they will start more wisely than I did at Fair Grove in the fall of 1961. more

Hi everyone! I am so very glad to be back for another exciting rambling! At this time I want to share a little of my past when I was still running Frontier Theater. We started school field trips in 1994 doing: Ozarks Missouri history featuring: native american skills, early settler adventures, and civil war reenactments, plus: much more! It was common to have 700 to 900 kids per week coming to the park for a field trip that was fun and educational. My job was the hayride in which I would load up about 50 kids and parents five or six times each day. After being loaded, I would announce to everyone: this is the famous Frontier Theater hayride, and we are going into the Land of Yesterday for an adventure experience that you will never forget! I would have different storylines for different age groups. I would take them to a special old-fashioned barn and line them up and begin our 1800s historical adventure. To all of my friends and readers of the rambling, how about our own adventure experience into the Land of Yesterday? OK, here we go. Let’s pause for a moment, close your eyes for a couple of seconds, and let’s all together learn about Felix Von Maxengruber, born hundreds of years ago in Germany. Felix and his family were farmers who lived a very isolated life working the land and, once every six months, took a four-day journey to the nearest village to trade their farm produce for items they needed. Now Felix was not the normal farmer. He was a devout believer in Jesus and studied the Bible closely every day! By the way, my rambling friends, our Felix, according to urban legend, was alive 400 hundred years ago during the 1600s. On his own, he asked the question: why did creation by God happen? Felix had a legendary I. Q. estimate of 390 by today’s standards. {perhaps the smartest person to live in modern history} His ability to comprehend and figure things out was off the charts for his time and even today! From Genesis 1:1- “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” From this statement alone, he concluded that from the original Hebrew that the word beginning meant reveal, and God almighty simply wanted to reveal himself to create man, heaven, and the universe. The next big question our Felix wrestled with for years was 2 Peter 3:10. Elements? What were the elements? What were these elements? How did more

Fundamentalism can creep its way into any space. I’m using the word fundamentalism here to say: non-negotiably following any subject’s basic rules. At first, these rules seem a nice set of concepts to cling onto. They set boundaries. “I stand for THIS! Not THAT,” fundamentalism proudly and boldly proclaims. It is illuminating to learn something’s rules, at first. They help guide us in the right direction. But, at some point, the “rules” might just start holding us back. At some point, the world may ask us, need us, to use our own brains, our own discretion. As Thomas Moore teaches in his book “Care of the Soul,” the intellect may crave strict and steadfast rules to hold onto, but the soul wants the nuance, the insight, the multi-layered levels of meaning and possibilities. Concrete ideas do work sometimes, but other times, the reflection and thoughtfulness of the abstract world needs to stake its place in our lives, too. more