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Though my desk is usually less than tidy, I don't neglect my keyboard.

Some striking oxymorons include: Hell's angels, act naturally, found missing, almost exactly, "Now, then", pretty ugly, exact estimate, and jumbo shrimp.

It's been one of those "mixed emotion" weeks. Sitting with family to watch our eldest granddaughter cross the stage and receive her Grade 12 graduation certificate, I couldn't help but reflect on what had transpired over the years.

A man with a hang-over falls asleep during the Sunday homily. The priest says to his congregation, "All those wishing to have a place in heaven, please stand." Everyone stands up but the sleeping man.

A zealous Christian who was trying to convert a Hindu found himself getting nowhere. The thing is, argued the frustrated Christian, you have to be born again! But I have been born again! Insisted the Hindu.

I'm often asked how I come up with ideas for these weekly offerings; rather, how I've done it for more than a decade. As a writer I am always on the lookout for ideas. (I also do a lot of praying for thoughts - some weeks more than others.

I still listen to Mom and Dad and it's not a bad thing Three umpires are talking. The first one says, "I see the pitches coming in, some good, some not so good but I call them as I sees them.

We become too easily desensitized to news of natural disasters. After all, they are inevitable and even the most sensational stories of crime, neglect or ineptitude have become all too commonplace.

The story is told about the minister who asked a member of his flock why he had not been to church for the past six weeks.

Consciously or otherwise, we train our children to be citizens of the coming decades. If we have a particular goal in mind, however, then that training becomes a conscious and vital part of our personal living and of our parental emphasis.