LIVING ON PURPOSE: Dropping the stones, searching within
By Bill Holland Those who have never experienced an addiction can seem unsympathetic and uncaring. Why? There are several reasons, like thinking that self-inflicting destruction does not deserve compassion, or maybe it’s the arrogance of thinking they themselves would never be so blind to let something like that happen to them. I feel the greater consideration would be, “Is becoming captured in the dependency of a chemical more of a...
House-arrest haircuts
By Tom Poland Nancy’s eyes betrayed frustration and fear. “I can’t cut your hair right now. I’ve got to close.” Early April 2020, the year of perfect vision, what do we see? Closings. Not so perfect, but to venture out is to risk death. So they say. So they say. Perched on the edge of chaos, it’s a good time to be handy, a jack-of-all-trades, a do-it-yourselfer. You’re on your own. Making do will have to do. Not happy with your shaggy...
Living on the West End: Worship time!
Editor’s note: This is a reprint of a Bill Shepard column that was published last year. By Bill Shepard When my dad moved with his family to the mill village in Darlington in 1922, there were no churches on the mill village where he lived. It would be 10 years before a small group of worshipers would come together and organize a church and erect a small church building on Phillips Street in Darlington. That church, known as The Church...
Living on the West End: The YMCA
Editor’s note: This is a reprint of a Bill Shepard column published last year. By Bill Shepard The YMCA was a big part of my world when I was a boy and living on the west end of Darlington. If anyone had asked me what the letters Y M C A stood for, I would not have known what to answer. If would be years before I could answer Young Men’s Christian Association! For many years, when anyone asked, “Bill, what’s your address?” my answer...
Living on Purpose: The power of staying positive
By Bill Holland Those who have a certain amount of worry and concern are not necessarily weak. Stress, like all the other negative forces which attempt to influence our thoughts every day, is real and there is no condemnation toward those who battle against it. However, it would also not be a balanced perspective on this subject without adding that negativity is actually an invited guest rather than an unwelcomed intruder. You are...
This silent, strange spring
By Tom Poland Spring’s springing. I put my hummingbird feeders up for soon the feathered jets will arrive. My azaleas burst into living color as Disney phrased it, and hardwoods’ newly minted leaves look so green they’re fluorescent. The cypress I planted long ago sports tender bright green needles. Yes, spring’s here but there’s no joy in Mudville, nor any town for that matter. A silent strange spring we have. Most folks have nowhere...