Author Archives: jimmcgarrah

I make no claim to being Christian, although, unlike many people who claim to be Christian, I have read the Bible cover to cover more than once. It contains history, poetry, mythological stories, and in some instances simple, yet profound, advice on how to be a decent person and live a kind and compassionate life.Continue reading ““The Good I Do…””

Something occurred to me recently that most of us living in America tend to either ignore, forget, or never knew. Perhaps it is because most of us identify—75 %—ourselves as Christians, whatever that means in a morass of different doctrines, dogmas, and denominations. We identify the religion associated with Jesus as one of peaceful intent.Continue reading “Carnival Rides”

JFK wrote a book called “Profiles in Courage” about politicians who had taken unpopular stances in Congress for the good of the people. It won the Pulitzer Prize. The book would be much easier to write these days—a cover and hundreds of blank pages. *** Consider the fact that the population of our country wasContinue reading “Think About It”

I am a Fogey, Fuddy-duddy, Geezer, Dinosaur, Fossil, or literally, an old man. I entered high school in 1962. It was the end of one era and the beginning of another. To quote Charles Dickens, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” To paraphrase Hunter Thompson,  “Things were starting toContinue reading “Character”

I’m seventy-six years old standing under a bright, white sun in a battered straw hat holding a tool I have not held in my hands for sixty years called a sickle. It is 97 degrees Fahrenheit in July in central Georgia. The borders around my lawn surround me with an army composed of Oxtail, Lespedeza,Continue reading “A Remembrance of Weeds”

Elegy for Charles Darwin on the 150th Anniversary of The Origin of Species and During the Trial of Faith Healer Dale Neuman. “He reasoned we’d evolve, become greater than the sum of our parts, but Darwin never met Dale, who killed his daughter with prayer because doctors are devils. Darwin conjectured we’d adapt from theContinue reading “Moral Absolutism”

My father loved horse racing. Nothing gave him a bigger thrill than a day at Churchill Downs or Keeneland or Ellis Park. The scent of horse liniment wafted through the air as a line of horses pranced into the paddock for saddling before each race hypnotized him. Add that to a beer in one handContinue reading “Genetics”

Like many societies, we seem to be one that clamors for truth—in advertising, in news, in education, and in our relationships—but assumes myth as an acceptable substitute because it’s more comfortable and often provides answers for unanswerable questions. A myth, one agreed upon by a group of people or a society, is a product ofContinue reading “The Myth of Fingerprints”

I came home from Vietnam, left the Marine Corps in 1969, and returned to college. I had flunked out of said college a few years before and lost a baseball scholarship through the over-enjoyment of fraternity keg parties. My time in a war led me to re-evaluate what my father meant by his admonition thatContinue reading “How We Have Become Prisoners of Our Own Making”