On Azimuth

  4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Ephesians 5:4 English Standard Version                My words hung in the air as an awkward silence filled our backyard. My father looked over with a bit of grin, saying, “Well, I guess they taught you something in the Army.”                I’d come home on leave between assignments and offered to help my father with a minor chore in the backyard. As things would have it, I smashed my thumb and let out a stream of expletives that would have made a sailor blush. I think the grass still does not grow where I was standing. I mumbled some sort of apology, and we went on with the task. I was mortified and my father mildly amused.               ...

  2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:2 English Standard Version                I like driving fast. Like most American males, I secretly believe that I would be a great race car driver. I often imagine myself snapping through gears as I race through the forests of northern Europe or jouncing across the dunes in the Dakar. I do not think I would be particularly good at NASCAR. I’d get bored and lose my concentration driving fast and turning left. But I enjoy speed. When I was first stationed in Germany, I loved cruising down the Autobahn as fast as I could go, doing my best Mario Andretti impersonation. As a family man, I purchased a Honda Accord sedan. With a few aftermarket tweaks, I was approaching 125 mph! Eventually, I exercised my need for speed and upon subsequent postings to Germany, I found travel by train much...