Susan Beckett

Many years ago, my sweet daughter Susanne and my hubby Bob got their heads together and made a video for one of Bob’s Sunday sermons. It was called, “Boiled Alive.” And yes, they actually boiled a frog at our kitchen stove - pretend! It’s amazing what you can do when you edit a video these days. The frog was not boiled, as it appeared to be - but you didn’t know that until the out-take where it showed Bob with frog in hand headed back to the pet store. Nevertheless, we got a ton of nasty emails slamming us for boiling Mr. Green Frog in the Beckett kitchen. (This video can still be viewed on youtube.com.)

Age seems to be a tricky thing here in America and interesting enough, it starts at a very young age. When I was just five years old, if you would have asked me how old I was, I would have told you “five and a half.” If you had asked me at fourteen how old I was, I probably would have told you “almost sixteen.” But then things started to change somewhere in my thirties, and if you would have asked me at thirty-six how old I was, I would have no doubt answered “twenty-nine.” And twenty-nine it is!

There’s an ultra mini expression which packs a big punch - it’s been around for quite a while, but many may not have a clue as to its origin - after all - it’s pretty novel and a tad bit scary. Hold onto your seat - here tis: “Run to the roar!” Pretty ear-catching! So - is this “running to the roar” the sound of a souped-up muscle car, or “running to the roar” of a mad crazy person, or “running to the roar” of a jet engine? Surprisingly, none of the above. It’s truly scarier than those - it’s running to the roar of a enormous lion!

Letter to the Editor, I just finished reading the editorial by Rusty Strait (Church or Political Podium) in this weeks Chronicle. I, too, attended the meeting at 412 Church that Rusty Strait wrote about but, apparently we heard two very different things!

There is an old legend known as “The Tale of King Solomon’s Ring.” This is not a Biblical story, but one handed down through the ages. King Solomon was said to be the wisest man in the Bible and one day, he summoned his faithful servant, Benaya and sent him out on an almost impossible mission. Solomon requested that Benaya find a ring that could transform a sad person into a happy individual and a happy person into a somber person. Benaya spent several months searching out this unique ring, but after traveling the land with no success, he was ready to give up.