Of the Bears and Y2K 
By Foy Valentine

Virgil said he wrote poetry like a she bear, gradually licking it into shape. (It took him seven years to write the 2183 lines of the Georgics.)

I am a little bit like Virgil. Make that a little bitty bit.

This offering has only very slowly been licked into some semblance of shape. For five years, I have usually tried to sound in this column a light and, I have hoped, a sometimes lilting note. Under the general rubric of Paul's "…whatsoever things are…lovely…think on these things", I have aspired to elicit an occasional smile, spread a random ray of sunshine, accentuate the positive, and avoid making sows' ears out of silk purses.  
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Remarks at James Dunn's Retirement Dinner 
By Bill Moyers

[These Remarks were made by Bill Moyers at the Retirement Dinner for James Dunn on the occasion of his retirement as Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, in Washington, D.C., on October 4, 1999. Bill Moyers is a journalist.]

It's hard enough to follow the President of the United States on this platform, but it's even harder to deliver a eulogy when the deceased is still with us.

But what was I to do when Dunn said he would rather have us lie about him when he's alive, than tell the truth about him after he's gone. 
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Life Together:  The Biblical Understanding of Community 
By William E. Hull

I. Exodus and Conquest
II. Monarchy and Prophecy
III. Division and Exile
IV. Return and Rebuilding
V. Danger and Diversity
VI: Jesus and His Disciples 
VII. The Early Church
Endnotes

The most cohesive force uniting the People of God during their long journey through Scripture was a tenacious sense of community. Over the centuries their life assumed many forms: family clan, tribal confederation, national monarchy, faithful remnant, holy congregation, sectarian commune, messianic movement. They were led by patriarchs, judges, kings, priests, scribes, apostles, and elders. Often challenged by external conflict or by internal controversy, they nevertheless maintained continuity in the midst of change because of an unshakable conviction that they had been chosen and called by God. (Large Document) 
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"If It Feels Good, Do It"
By Charles Wellborn

Years ago, in an introductory university class in Christian ethics, I asked my students during the first days of class to write a personal response paper answering from their own viewpoints the two most pertinent questions in any ethical discussion: how does one decide the difference between good and bad, and what is the good life?

As one would expect, since a number of the students were from a north Florida conservative Christian background, some gave the expected orthodox answers. One determined what was good or bad according to the Ten Commandments or, in several cases, by answering the question, "What would Jesus do?" Other students presented the fairly common. response: what helps people is good; what hurts people is bad. 
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Feminism Goes to Seed 
By Rebecca Merrill Groothuis

Modern feminism, which has always left a great deal to be desired, had at least one legitimate concept at its inception in the 1960s and 1970s, namely, the notion that women, as well as men, should have the opportunity to aspire to be all that they can be; it should not be assumed that the fixed essence of femaleness is being in the service of a man. But note that at the root of this eminently reasonable claim is the quintessentially feminist beef that women have always ended up with a mere sliver of the pie of cultural power. Aha! says the antifeminist, all this talk of women using their talents to the full for the general good is a mere rhetorical cover for their real agenda of gaining the upper hand over men upsetting the balance of power in society at large and in personal relationships. This prospect, of course, terrifies the average man. 
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Updated Wednesday, November 21, 2001

Shortly after relocating to Ft. Worth, one of the neighbors came over to our house to introduce himself. I had previously noticed this young man with his two preschool children. In the few times I had seen them together, there was never any sign of a wife and mother. My neighbor introduced himself and explained to me that his wife had taken her life just a few months back. He told me that she had only been diagnosed with depression for just one month prior to her suicide. He said that she had been taking Prozac since her initial visit to her doctor just weeks before she died. This young widower and single parent explained to me that he and his two children were in counseling. He talked to me about his relationship with his church and how his faith had helped him during this crisis. As he turned to walk back to his house, he said, "You know, God doesn't put on us more than we can bear." It was only weeks later that I began to think seriously about that statement. What about his wife? She must have been convinced in her own mind that she had more than she could possibly bear. 
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A Hal Haralson Trilogy

• Law School at Thirty-Three
• Searching for Judy Christian
• A Grease Rack Prayer 

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The Grandeur of God and the Love of Literature
By Ralph Wood

Rather than offering a large set of theoretical claims that might prove soporific so early in the morning, I thought it might be instructive to praise the particular teacher who engendered in me a lifelong love of literature. His name is Paul Barrus, and he is still very much alive even if not very well, in this his 98`x' year toward Paradise-as Dante described the Christian life. I owe him a debt too great to be paid, but at least I can offer this small tribute of praise and thanksgiving, in the hope that we too might shape the lives of our students as deeply as he did mine. 
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A Little Local Gun Control
By Ron Sisk

[Dr. Ron Sisk is pastor of the Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

It started with an "Amen!", several "Amens!" actually, an almost unheard of revivalistic outbreak in our properly sober Baptist congregation. But it was the Sunday after the shooting in Fort Worth. Our people were mad. And when the preacher let loose with a tirade against gun violence, you could feel the energy level in the room skyrocket.

Afterward, on the way out the door, several stopped to say, "OK, preacher, now what are you going to do about it?" Normally I hate it when they ask me to practice what I preach, but this time I felt different. That afternoon I got the chance to touch base with the head of our local interfaith council. She said, "We should see what the faith community wants to do." So I did.

The next day I began calling ministerial friends...
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Reconciliation
By Ralph Lynn, Former Baylor History Professor

Perhaps the most serious problem Christians now face is the necessity of reconciling our traditional religious views which have come from a geographically small, pre-urban, pre-scientific world, with our globalized, chiefly urban, science-directed, com­puter-driven, information-dominated present.

Aware of my limitations, I cannot offer even the framework of that needed reconciliation. But perhaps a survey of three crisis peri­ods in Judeo-Christian history may give some guidance for the pro­ject.
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