Author Archives: Dr. Philip W. Turner

In a campaign season for political office, we become quite accustomed to candidates making speeches.  Sometimes they are called a stump speech.  A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office.  In such a speech, the candidate usually reiterates their talking points, several things they want to accomplish orContinue reading “Stump Speech”

We hear a lot about border crossings today.  A border checkpoint is a place, generally between two countries, where travelers or goods are inspected. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders often have a limited number of checkpoints where one can cross without legal sanctions.  In the United States,Continue reading “Border Crossings”

For anyone who has ever driven a car, you know there are times when you have to hit the brakes.  Now it is impossible to drive a vehicle and not have to use the braking system.  With starts and stops, you have to gently press the brakes to slow your car down and bring itContinue reading “Hitting the Brakes”

I think most people are familiar with watermarks.  Originally a watermark is a more or less transparent image or text applied to a piece of paper, another image to either protect the original image or make it harder to copy the item, e.g., money stamp watermarks.  If you hold the paper in the right light,Continue reading “Watermarks”

What are you thinking about?  We’ve asked that question of others, and others have directed that question toward us.  A lot of times, you can tell when someone is thinking about something.  They are there, but there is a disconnect with the environment around them.  They are lost in their thoughts.  The dictionary defines lostContinue reading “Lost in our Thoughts”

It says it right there in the Declaration of Independence: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  These are three examples given of unalienable rights granted to all humans by their creator.  According to the Declaration of Independence,” we have a right to these.  I’m not sure why these three were identified as central, asContinue reading “The Pursuit of Happiness, When We Were Made for Joy”

It happens.  Something happens that upsets us.  We get angry.  We get frustrated.  Even our physical demeanor changes as we become red face.  We get “bent out of shape”.  The phrase means to take offense; to become angry, agitated, or upset.  Something has set us off so much that we are all twisted up insideContinue reading “Bent Out of Shape”

For anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant as the wait staff or as a busboy or busgirl, there are times when you go to the table after the diners have left to find a mess.  Now there will always be dirty dishes and the like, but sometimes the table is a disaster.  RemnantsContinue reading “The Mess We Leave Behind: Politics and Conversations”

Did you ever ask a question of another, but did not get the answer you wanted to hear?  You ask the question hoping that the individual will affirm what you have already decided the answer to be.  In Matthew’s Gospel, the apostle Peter comes to Jesus asking a question about forgiveness.  In Matthew 18:21 weContinue reading “Sloppy Saints”

Jesus knew all along how his life would unfold.  He knew that there would come a point in which he would suffer and die.  The cross was continuously before him as he carried out his mission and ministry.  Each day drew him closer to this reality.  There would be difficult days ahead for him andContinue reading “Straight Talk”

Monday night is trash night at my house.  Bright and early Tuesday morning, you can hear the sounds of the truck as the sanitation workers will descend on our neighborhood and begin the weekly process of collecting the trash.  So, on Monday night we go throughout the house and collect the trash from the individualContinue reading “Trash Night”

Have you ever had an “aha moment?”  An aha moment is defined as a moment of sudden realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension.  For different reasons what was unknown or even forgotten is recognized or remembered.  There is a break in your line of thinking when the truth breaks in and you discover understanding.  TheseContinue reading “An Aha Moment”

How many times have you said or heard another person say, “We better head for the hills?”  I know I have used it on occasion at different times sometimes jokingly and sometimes seriously.  Its dictionary definition reads: ” To move to higher ground, as in preparation for or response to a natural disaster.”  So, ifContinue reading “Head for the Hills”

Have you ever gone looking for something and not be able to find it.  You feel as though you have searched carefully, yet you have no luck in your search.  Yet, eventually, you or someone else does find it and the object was in plain sight all the time.  It is right in front ofContinue reading “Right in Front of Your Face”

We’ve all probably had the same experience.  You are sitting in your car at a stoplight when it is red.  The light turns green and you don’t start moving forward at the exact moment and someone starts honking their horn at you.  You’ve barely had the chance to react to the light change before someoneContinue reading “You Can’t Hurry Love”

How often have parents told their young children, “dirty, don’t touch.”  Toddlers especially are known to be curious about anything they see whether it be a piece of chewed gum stuck to an object, a piece of trash on the ground, or a decaying bird in the grass.  The toddler wants to pick it upContinue reading “Dirty, Don’t Touch”

At some point in children’s lives, the parents permit them to swim in the deep end of the pool.  Growing up with a public pool, I can remember the various roped off areas based on the water depth.  There was the shallow end, the larger pool that went from three feet to five feet, andContinue reading “The Deep End”

“What will I wear today” is one of the first questions that we ask ourselves in the morning.  We open our closets and examine our wardrobe and try to determine what we will wear.  Sometimes it is a quick decision while at other times we may struggle to decide.  We may try on a coupleContinue reading “Closet Choices”

Most people enjoy a good word game like crossword puzzles, word searches, jumbles, scrabble, and the like.  Such games are good intellectual stimulation, they can strengthen our vocabulary, and are simply fun to do.  Some people are good at them while others may struggle and take longer to complete.  Yet, like anything, the more timeContinue reading “Word Games”

You’re watching your favorite program on television when all of a sudden, the news interrupts your show with breaking news.  It usually begins with an announcement of some kind like “we interrupt this program for a special news alert.”  Something has happened that is of such importance that your regular program is interrupted.  Unfortunately, mostContinue reading “We Interrupt this Program”