D. RANDALL FARO

Life without doughnuts is unimaginable. Well, not really. Unimaginable is a hyperbole to make the point that, for me, life would be somewhat diminished without these tasty delicacies. I actually spent several decades thumbing my nose at them. In the 1980s I crafted more than one sermon at Robin’s Donuts in Regina, Saskatchewan. I’d spend an hour or two formulating thoughts in between maple bars and apple fritters . . . until my kids started pointing out the correlation

In one of Charles Schulz’ Peanuts cartoons Snoopy lies on top and his doghouse and muses: “Sometimes I lie awake at night and wonder why I was born. Why was I put on this Earth? What am I doing here? And then suddenly it hits me: I haven’t got the slightest idea.” Notwithstanding our inability to answer many why questions, such as Snoopy’s, there is an answerable complementary question Charlie Brown’s dog (and we) do well to ask: Since I was born and am here

The internet provided the following when asked to define the American Dream: The idea that anyone—regardless of where they were born or what social class they started in—can achieve success and upward mobility through hard work, determination, and initiative. Core Ideas Behind the American Dream Opportunity for All. Everyone should have an equal chance to succeed. Upward Mobility. Each generation can do better financially and socially than

Ridiculous. Absurd. Foolish. Nonsensical. Preposterous. Stupid. All six of the foregoing are synonyms of ludicrous. To embrace thinking – and the consequences of acting on such – that can justifiably be characterized by these adjectives is, well, ridiculous, absurd . . . Senseless is also a kissing-cousin term for ludicrous. Several examples of thinking and acting that don’t make sense: Aggrandizement with no concern for anyone else, on personal or national levels

Language is a precious ability. To be sure, other non-human living things communicate, but not with the range and clarity of homo sapiens. But words can be misunderstood or misused. They can enliven or kill. Because of this, we must take great care with the use of language lest we convey unintended meanings. The fallacy of the old sticks-and-stones-may-break-my-bones adage points out the need to think carefully about what one might wish to say (and whether to say it or not),

The short letter of 1 Timothy in the Bible states that the love of money is the root of all evil . Indeed, the desire for wealth has led and leads to a plethora of evils, inflicting injustices like a cancer on the body politic. But surely there are complementary motivations that lead to horrific consequences for individuals and communities. To wit, racism, revenge, power, ideology, and lust, to name a few. Here is the full text surrounding the oft-touted phrase: But t

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The industrial manufacture of death. A phrase that leapt from the page of a WWII novel I’m reading about snipers in the European theater...

I wonder. In the sense, not of soul-stirring surprise, but of doubt. Doubt, in this case, meaning not completely understanding. Maybe not...

It’s not promised. Tomorrow. That doesn’t mean one should make no plans for tomorrow . . . or next week . . . or next year. Life is an...

There are things we might not know that we’re glad to learn are happening. Stay with me even though the next paragraph might need a...

Affluenza is a portmanteau of affluence and influenza. While not a formally recognized pathological mental condition, the term is...

Don’t ask me what I believe or what my deepest values are. Watch me. The reason for saying “don’t ask me” is that I can say anything. I...

It’s a question imbedded in the mind of most authors. I typed “why authors write” in the Google search box and got over 8 million...

Growing up in Indianapolis in the early 60s I spend uncounted happy days at the Riviera Club, a gigantic outdoor swimming pool with...

A wise sage who lived in the first century AD – or CE, depending on one’s druthers – drew up a short list (9) of what he termed “fruits...