Opinions

Ruffin’s Renderings: Crosses

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Tuesday, April 16. 2019

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

Have you ever participated in the Stations of the Cross? If you’re a Christian, you should. It is a spiritually enriching and challenging experience. If you’re not a Christian, you’ll still find it an interesting and possibly moving experience. The Stations of the Cross is an exercise in following Jesus as he moves toward his crucifixion. The Barnesville First United Methodist Church offers the opportunity to engage in this exercise from Tuesday, April 16 through Good Friday, April 19 from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon in the sanctuary. [Full story »]

Memories will help brighten the present with the past

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, April 2. 2019

Kay S. Pedrotti
kayspedrotti@gmail.com

Memories are like raindrops - you can ward them off for a while with the umbrella of today, but once they hit you, you can’t stop them from sinking in and soaking you. [Full story »]

‘Church folks’ in lighter moments

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, March 26. 2019

Kay S. Pedrotti
kayspedrotti@gmail.com

My esteemed father used to say that he knew for sure that God has a sense of humor, because he created - and then put up with - human beings. I believe that with God, anything is possible, to the point that we laugh at our foibles even if they occur in or around church or religious topics. [Full story »]

Ruffin’s Renderings: Politics

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, March 19. 2019

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

It’s early in 2019. So far, roughly 197 Democrats have announced that they will be candidates in the 2020 presidential election. Meanwhile, a couple of Republicans are reportedly weighing the possibility of running for their party’s nomination against the incumbent president who really isn’t a Republican - c’mon now, you have to admit he isn’t - but who won their nomination and the presidency in 2016. Oh, and there’s a super-rich guy who used to sell coffee that costs three times as much and has no better taste than what you can get at McDonald’s who may run as an independent for some unfathomable reason. [Full story »]

Geiger’s Counter: Every day annoyances

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, March 12. 2019

Life is full of little, aggravating things. These can be human behaviors that flip your switch or pesky little things that crop up - many of them technology based. [Full story »]

Thinking for a Change: Counting Sheep

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, March 5. 2019

By Anthony Vinson
advkdv@att.net

Build that wall! How about no. A wall along the southern border is a lousy idea. Truth be told, the immediate cessation of illegal immigrants flowing into the country would cause unimagined turmoil. The poultry and agriculture industries would be unable to operate. Residential construction would wobble in an already volatile market. One after another the economic dominoes would fall, leaving we the people in a self-inflicted pickle. Who wants that? [Full story »]

Random thoughts to let the readers think too

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, February 26. 2019

Kay S. Pedrotti
kayspedrotti@gmail.com

Every day that I think the world cannot get any crazier, it does. New scandals, new deadly missiles, new sports controversies, dissidents gnawing the ends of old plots while designing even crazier new ones. [Full story »]

Confessions of a former meme-sharer

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, February 19. 2019

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

The word “meme” has two primary definitions, according to merriam-webster.com.

The first definition of “meme” is, “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.”

Scientist Richard Dawkins, who came up with the word in 1976, called it “a unit of cultural transmission.” Spending a lot of time on Facebook is an example of this kind of meme. [Full story »]

The older you get, the colder you get

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, February 12. 2019

“The older you get, the colder you get.” Those words of wisdom - the only words of wisdom from him I remember - were imparted to me by Grandaddy Lonnie.
We were living in Ailey, Ga. at the time. We had a burn barrel behind the house for burning trash. It was a cold day and I had trash duty. Once upon a time, trash duty for me led to a wildfire in the adjoining broom sedge field but that is story for another day. [Full story »]

Walking back through the years

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, February 5. 2019

By Charlotte Kirkland

Let’s take a walk back through the years.

It was a warm spring evening back in 1991. I came home from work and Harold had a nice supper on the table all ready to be eaten. Harold’s plant had closed and he was lucky enough to get an early retirement so he often had supper ready when I got home. He’s a pretty good cook too, I might add. [Full story »]

Ruffin’s Renderings: What are you immersed in?

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, January 22. 2019

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

In a recent service at the First United Methodist Church of Barnesville, Pastor Cyndi McDonald led us to remember our baptism. At the end of the service, she invited us to dip our hands in the water in the baptismal font as a way of doing so. [Full story »]

Geiger’s Counter: Too much information

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, January 15. 2019

One day last week, I was performing my morning ritual of getting coffee from a local convenience store to enjoy at my desk while dealing with the daily assault of e-mail - mostly junk. I encountered a woman whom I thought was addressing me. [Full story »]

Ruffin’s Renderings: A Broader Perspective

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, January 8. 2019

By Mike Ruffin
ruffinml@gmail.com

1968 was a tough year. The Vietnam War was raging. Assassins struck down Dr. King and Sen. Kennedy. Riots tore apart major American cities. The divisions between people were sharp.
But something happened at the end of that year that showed us something we really needed to know. And many of us watched it on television. [Full story »]

Many things to be happy about in the New Year

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, January 1. 2019

Kay S. Pedrotti
news@pikecountygeorgia.com

Not knowing the reason why, I seem to be able to be more grateful as one year ends and another begins. Maybe it’s the tendency we all have to reminisce, to remember good times, to wonder what’s in store for the future. [Full story »]

Geiger’s Counter: Christmas memories

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Rachel McDaniel

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Tuesday, December 18. 2018

When I think of Christmas Eve, I think of the late Holland and Louise Jackson and the fabulous party they hosted for generations on the night before Christmas at their Thomaston Street home. It was amazing. [Full story »]