J. Randal Matheny

The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing

If the Lord permits his servants in eternity to look back at history and see the real reasons behind so much of what happened on earth, events will likely bring surprise after surprise. Heaven's history books must read very differently from man's explanations of what happened.

Add to that the divine causality that guided history to its end, and we will fall forever at the feet of the Enthroned One to praise him for his power and wisdom and exalt him for his guidance and protection.

a 200-pound black bear attacked one of the woman's dogs just after midnight Wednesday on the back porch of her home about 15 miles west of Missoula.

When the woman, whom police did not name, tried to separate the animals, the bear bit her in the leg.

Maricelli says the woman reached for the nearest object at hand on the porch's railing - a large zucchini that she had harvested from her garden.

The woman flung the vegetable at the bear, striking it and forcing it to flee.

Truth is weirder than fiction. You couldn't put this in a work of fiction. The editor would never let it pass. "Not realistic!" he'd say.

That must have been one mean zucchini. Or the lady must have had great aim, on the snout, maybe? Or maybe it was rotten and the bear fled from the smell? Or just scared?

The details we'd like to know ...

It’s impossible to proofread anything to perfection. I try, but I seldom succeed.

The bane of every editor. The errors jump out at you after it's been published.

But the author of the post has more to say. See especially the last quote.

being with Jesus is the education. Listen to and do what He taught and you will far outshine the rest.

A man I know demands that everyone call him "Dr." He doesn't know Jeremiah 9:23-24. Others tout their degrees behind their names even in the most unlikely places. Education is not bad; I have several degrees myself, but the diplomas went in the filing cabinets after graduation. Education is a tool, not the means by which we find or establish our importance.

And as Weylan says well, Jesus is the education. Thank God for his infinite wisdom!

Hi Jay,

Your Corner post about poisonous excuses rings very true to me. In Latin America we have a long and proud history of making excuses. You may remember that the book Chávez gave Obama (Eduardo Galeano’s Las venas abiertas de América Latina) is one gigantic weepy excuse for all our problems. . . .

It’s so much easier to point the finger at others than at the man in the mirror, but it is a fruitless exercise. It leads only to rage and sterile self-satisfaction. It is the father of the spiritual poverty that begets material poverty. Unfortunately these bonds are cultural, ancient, and deep, so it will take more than a few generations to break free of them.

Making excuses is not the province of individuals only. Societies and nations do it. Easier to blame the other (guy, nation, time) rather than change my ways and take responsibility for my life.

Bread should never be sliced so thin that God is squeezed out.

Weylan doesn't touch specifically on the age-old question about praying for a parking spot (maybe, under "silly wishes"?), but he does address the truth that no request or concern of ours is too small for God.

I sold my golf clubs about the time I decided to get serious about publishing some of my books.

I remember reading a line from Jack Lewis who said that you can't read comic books and be a scholar, something like that. He meant by it, I think, that one cannot be frivolous with one's time and expect to develop an area of expertise. To do great things, one must be single-minded.