J. Davy Crockett III

Much of the Christian-professing world has been observing Lent, a time of self-denial in preparation for Easter. Interestingly, the day before Lent begins is a time of partying and excess known as Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” though most of the participants don’t know exactly why they are celebrating. The next day, Ash Wednesday, begins forty days of “fasting” leading up to Easter. Adherents usually give up some simple pleasure during that time, supposedly harkening back to Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness before being tempted by Satan.

Some names live in infamy. The memory and names of those individuals have been seared into the historical fabric of the countries and cultures in which they did treacherous deeds. It seems that no country or region has lacked ignominious characters whose names have become reviled. In the United States, the name of Benedict Arnold—the general who, greedy for recognition and money, treacherously betrayed General George Washington and the fledgling Colonial States of America during the Revolutionary War—still is used as a synonym for traitor.

Most people have not been inside a jail. It’s not a place that anyone in their right mind wants to be. Yet, jails are filling up and new ones can’t be built fast enough. Local, state, and federal penal systems are strained beyond capacity, and they struggle for increases in their budgets to meet the demands placed upon their institutions.

There is a spirit of anger in the land. You see it all around you. There is disillusionment as iconic figures in entertainment, news organizations, and high political office are exposed as being lecherous, licentious, predatory sexual abusers. There is anger when elected officials fail to deliver on promises to reform regulations and laws that adversely affect working people and small businesses.

Everybody loves a fish story. Somehow, such stories often grow with the telling, stretching the truth and straining all credulity. Listeners respond with laughter and knowing nods as they express their doubts about the fisherman’s tale.