Author Archives: chappelltemple

They’re ducks all right but as naturalist Jo Alwood has said, they don’t seem entirely convinced about it.  For black-bellied whistling ducks not only look like geese–with their long legs and necks and finishing school erect posture–but they also form pair … Continue reading →

To be certain, his theological writings about such ideas as “religionless Christianity” and “cheap grace” were profound. But it was his private correspondence from prison that actually introduced him to the world some six years after his death on April … Continue reading →

We started with jasmine but eventually the trellises began to rust out and had to be removed.  So we turned instead to crepe myrtles which were absolutely lovely…until the wicked westward exposure to the sun overtook them, their valiant efforts to … Continue reading →

The family tree is full of them.  Charlie, for instance, had lied about his age to join, a habit he continued when he met my mother, only in the other direction when he didn’t tell her he was actually younger than … Continue reading →

It’s not entirely certain what happened that night in September long ago.  All we are sure of, in fact, is that the lawyer who had gone out to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the enemy found himself stranded on the … Continue reading →

He was the epitome of a “gentleman and a scholar.”  For his first book, Fundamentalism and the Word of God, a rather brilliant defense of the historic Protestant position on the authority of scripture, made it plain that in his … Continue reading →

The calendar will tell you that it’s not until June 20, while the temperature gauge will suggest it started weeks ago.  But for my money, summer officially begins today as area schools have now limped to the finish of the … Continue reading →

You could hear the pain in their question.  For after being defeated by an enemy that overwhelmed them, then forcibly relocated along a Mesopotamian Trail of Tears, the Jews who found themselves by the rivers of Babylon were in no … Continue reading →

I suppose I could have yelled at him to watch where he was going, but it wouldn’t have helped.  For as it turns out, they can see but they can’t hear.  Similarly, expecting him to stand up for himself wouldn’t … Continue reading →