Latest Musings

Musings
Mark Eckel

Transitions at 67

The old paradigm is gone. It seems people no longer consider age a boundary marker. It used to be that “retirement” was regulated by years. Now we say, “Sixty is the new forty.” One student, who discovered my age, in an obvious lapse of decorum, intoned that I was “older than his parents.” Yeah. That

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Musings
Mark Eckel

Instant Eternal

The line Between Here and There Now and Then Does not exist In the way We think, Enamored, As we are, With what We think. Instead Of what He thinks. The Majesty Of the moment Is in every Clock’s tick Our opportunity Our responsibility Our urgency To live As if Tomorrow We die [We will]

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Musings
Mark Eckel

Don’t Ask and I Won’t Tell

“How ya’ doin’?” is the general way the question is asked. People who ask it fall into categories. Some mean, “Hi.” The question becomes an informal greeting. The person isn’t expecting you to answer. Others wonder, truly, about your well-being. The individual is expecting a reply akin to “Fine, thank you.” Their interest is intentional,

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Musings
Mark Eckel

5 Poems I Find Useful

My children dragged me kicking and screaming into poems and their poets in the 90’s. And I am ever thankful that they did. Now, I wonder if I could live without it, without expressing myself in it, without giving the poetry of Scripture its due. This week I discovered Marianne Moore, a modernist poet whose

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Musings
Mark Eckel

202*

202* Asterisk *stars* are used for emphasis instead of C*PITALIZING expunging the vowel in a prof*nity a symbol in c*lculation footn*tes in essays r*dialing the last call For all these reasons I will use the asterisk to mark This year. To expunge a day To multiply days To emphasize daily To footnote the date To

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Musings
Mark Eckel

Empty Chair

I sat on the deck Talking to him tonight Smoke and glass hand   Telling him how much I miss him On this earth with me   Ahead of the artic blast I shiver and shake Not for cold   But for the absence The son who is On the Other Side   To say

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Categories

Recent Posts

The Bible and Public Health

How can God’s Word benefit public health? Give me a minute to explain. The Bible is good for people. It seems that Harvard University might agree! The question is raised, “Is religion a determining factor of public health?” Yes, says Harvard Public Health. “Documentation suggests that weekly religious service attendance is longitudinally associated with lower

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Biblical History is Real

How do you know the Bible is real history? Give Me a Minute to explain. Dr. Luke knew “what was real.” The good doctor gives the precision, the detail we come to expect from doctors. Luke 3:1-6 is a case in point. Luke chronicles the historic exactitude of John the Baptist’s mission and message into

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Friday Email Sample

Email Title: Ice, Fire, Can’t, Prep, 1, 2, Tesla, Consent, Structure, GenBio, Nay, Good (10 January 2025) Being without electricity is unexpected in 21st Century America. When you’re stuck at home without heat or hot water (not to mention coffee!). This is no small thing in the modern world. This happened to me in a

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God and Reality

Talking about God means we are talking about everything. Find out why by watching or reading my one-minute explanation. G. K. Chesterton, famed Christian apologist, saw the basic problem of God and reality. Chesterton said, “You cannot evade the issue of God: whether you talk about pigs or the binomial theory, you are still talking

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What I Am Made To Do

NOTE: Earlier this week I published the first in a new series of one-minute videos titled, “Give Me a Minute.” The initial entry is “Status Viator.” The present outline here is a practical example of what I meant in the video   Status Viator: My Christian Walk and its Influence on What I Am Made

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On the Way in this New Year

In this new year, how should we make our way? Give Me a Minute to suggest an answer. A young colleague asked for some guidance toward his future in higher education. He grappled with what to include in his resume. I sent him something I have been including with my resume for twenty years called

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