J. Davy Crockett III

While listening to a well know radio show, a female caller made the point that we now live it the "age of the wuss." Now, just what is a "wuss"? The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition states, "Slang: A person regarded as weak or timid and especially as unmanly." A "wuss" is a wimp; a timid, ineffectual man.

The sound of the cicadas was deafening as I walked along on a summer Sabbath morning, enjoying the breeze and collecting my thoughts after a busy and eventful week. I had so much to think about, and was trying to making sense of it from a biblical point of view. Yet, those cicadas were humming away so loudly, it was hard to concentrate.

Each day brings new and unsettling developments in all sectors and levels of our country and other developed nations, spawning uncertainty and fear, as people go about their daily routines of work and leisure activities. As one contemplates this situation, the question is raised, "Why terrorism?" Why has this become a global problem, which everyone deals with and no one can control? It is a very complex question and a number of contributing factors can be identified.

Some events are obvious turning points in the course of history. Other events may go unnoticed by many, but are, nonetheless, turning points in determining how things will turn out. As an example, the headlines shout, "Don't ask, don't tell repealed," which means that the hotly debated policy of allowing homosexual individuals to serve in the military – as long as their sexual preference was kept private and not openly practiced or publicized to others – has been changed.

"Representative Rangel Censured by the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives" was the headline in the news of recent days.  It was just more of the same kind of disappointing reports of various public figures – from federal judges, state legislators, governors, senators and congressmen – being caught with their "hand in the cookie jar" taking bribes, selling influence, evading taxes, often involving sexual misconduct and infidelity.