Phil Gulley- I was in Florida last weekend leading a retreat for a Southern Baptist Church at a conference center on the beach. I didn't want to go, but when one is in ministry, one has to be prepared to carry out difficult tasks without complaint, so off I went to the beach.

Jim Mulholland-Many years ago, Bill Gothard came to my inner city neighborhood. Bill Gothard is the president of the Institute For Basic Life Principles, a parachurch organization based in Chicago, Illinois. He was invited to Indianapolis by Mayor Goldsmith and sent to my neighborhood to start a program aimed at reforming inner city youth. The Mayor and Judge Payne, the juvenile judge at that time, pledged Gothard their full support.

Jim Mulholland-Over the past two years, there have been several New York Times best selling books written by atheists about religion. I’ve read most of them - Sam Harris' The End of Faith, Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great. The subtitle of Hitchens' book summarizes the general consensus of all of these authors – "Religion poisons everything."

Philip Gulley- Our sons returned to school this week, to the toil of compulsory education, and not with great enthusiasm. I can't imagine being a teacher and having to teach children who are in no mood to learn. We have many educators here at Fairfield and you have my deepest admiration. Personally, I support child labor, letting those who have the energy for work do it, while we adults, who are weary of labor and eager to learn something, go to school. I would like to learn how to diagram sentences. I wasn’t paying attention the week Mrs. Conley taught it in the fourth grade. They tried making me learn it and I resisted, but now I would pay good money to know such things. That’s the problem with making people do things, we find ways to rebel even when it’s in our best interests to cooperate.

Philip Gulley- It is nice to be back at Fairfield Meeting with my friends. We've been on vacation, camping on the shores of the Great West Bog Lake near Loogootee, Indiana. Now we are home and for that we are grateful. A word of advice: Don't ever go on vacation anywhere with the word "bog" in the title. Bog: wet spongy ground; a poorly drained usually acid area rich in plant residues, frequently surrounding a body of open water. Bog: to become impeded or stuck.

Jim Mulholland-My daughter-in-law's sister is giving her children away. As horrible as that sounds, it may be an act of grace.

Jim Mulholland-When I was a little boy, I was deathly afraid of dogs. When I saw a dog, I'd freeze in terror. If the dog growled, I'd run. When the dog chased me, I'd scream. My mother and father tried to convince me that I didn't need to be afraid, but I didn't believe them.