Opinion

 I have recently been thinking about the church. Not just local churches like Shelby Christian, where I minister, but the church nationally and globally – and about the impact it is (or isn’t) making in the world.

The visit to Shelby County this Friday by Rep. Brett Guthrie is an opportunity in democracy that most Shelby Countians don’t typically have and even less often grasp.

Too frequently these days our national politicians don’t show up in their districts until they need money, votes or, typically, more of both.

That’s why Mr. Guthrie’s stop here is such a uniquely wonderful moment for all of us.

My family loves Disney World. One of the things they love about it is pin trading.

For the uninitiated, pin trading is a sport at Disney World where you buy pins that depict various Disney characters, rides or experiences and then you display them on a lanyard that is worn around your neck (or held by your dad when you’re riding a roller coaster).  Then you take the pins you have purchased and trade them with other people. 

Where was your student at noon Tuesday? Was he or she in a classroom or assembly watching on television as President Obama offered encouragement about our young people’s commitments to education?

Was he or she listening to the wisdom of the person we so overwhelmingly chose last year to be our spokesperson to all mankind, being inspired by one of the most talented orators of our times?

My last trip to the State Fair probably came on a vacation about the time Jimmy Carter was figuring out he might not get re-elected.

Growing up I had attended frequently, great times with my grandparents and, when old enough, my friends, but as I became more entrenched in the demands of career and family in another state, my personal calendar never really coincided with the fair’s.

So as we often do when transition scoops up our lives and deposits them in cones of change, I replaced tradition with memory.

As a fifth-year teacher in Shelby County Public Schools, I've been impressed with the dedication and professionalism of faculty, staff, and administration. I think we're fortunate to have a good school district. After hearing Superintendent [James] Neihof’s opening-day challenge to SCPS staff to push for our school district to move from good to great, I offer up the following six suggestions.

  One of the most popular channels on television is the Food Channel.

You can tune in and watch experts produce perfect dishes with immaculate presentation in less than 30 minutes. In an hour you can get a seven-course meal.

These are, of course, creations of pure genius using the bark of the elm tree, the juice of the maple and a wild herb that only grows in Lithuania, which the cook picked up at Kroger on a Senior Citizen Day discount. I mean, there’s nothing to this stuff.

A few months ago I wrote in this column about my search for the perfect mattress and about how difficult it was because of all of the choices.

Well, boys and girls, now I’m stepping it up a few notches – I’m looking for a new truck.

Now that we know for sure the Shelbyville Bypass will not be completed in 2009, we are left with a lot of fundamental questions, far more miles of them than there are of concrete poured on this roadway.

But one question we don’t have is this: Who is in charge?

State officials made the answer to that one abundantly clear last week when they explained that our bypass is being built under a so-called “working days” contract, which allows contractors to control the time frame, the work schedule and, ultimately, the completion date for the project.