Pray Without Ceasing

On the lookout for a fresh slogan, Mitt Romney's campaign seized on half a sentence uttered by Obama a couple of weeks ago which, as has been well reported , was excised from its context and misinterpreted. Obama's comment, made in the context of a campaign speech in Roanoke: "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet." Romney's campaign turned this into a "We Did Built This" tour with eighteen rallies in 12 states on one day alone. The furor seems to have died down, but the irony over the cl...

There seems to be no limit to the depth of denial in the Columbus Public Schools' attendance-scrubbing scandal . The news media in Central Ohio has published story after story featuring the dramatic alteration of attendance data in order to gain the school system financial and other advantages, yet those involved continue to heap denial upon denial (the most dubious being "we've always done that and I didn't realize it was wrong"). What these folks don't realize is that they have already been condemned by their unethical and possibly illegal behavior, and that their repeated denials constitute a living-out of their jail terms. "Evil will bring death to the wicked," the psalmist sings in Psalm 34:21, "and those who hate the righteous will be punished." The good news is that God, in God's abundance grace, offers a free pass out of this prison of death for those willing to acknowledge their wrongdoing: Turn from evil and do good;...