Yes peacocks, and I think an albino peacock too (or am I just imagining that?) at St. Johns.

When you’re friends with a girl in such a way that when something funny happens you want to tell her first, and she feels the same way because there’s no one you’d rather talk to… Even if there’s been zero romantic stuff going on - you’re already 99% of the way to being engaged or something.

Lots of folks try to skip that friendship part and do alright, but they have it harder down the line.

the only thing I would say is: don’t you have to differentiate yourself from rest of the pack of male friends to show that you are interested in more than a friendship with a female (after the friendship foundation has formed- step 3)?

He said this “childish thinking” is ruining the country, and we need to follow the example of other countries, enter the 21st century and give up our ridiculous religious ideas. While I already knew that many liberals felt this way, I was shocked to hear the sentiment spoken on the morning news.

Another shock came when I heard a female candidate criticized for a personal decision she had made. People called her an uncaring, uncompassionate person because she chose to give birth to her Down’s Syndrome baby rather than abort him.

Just the other day, I heard someone who’d been asked about his views on abortion state, “I value freedom to do what I want more than I value life.”

I’m disturbed when I hear sentiments like the one from a candidate who said he was against abortion, but he supports the right of individuals to choose. What he was actually saying was power is more important than life. People love power, and what greater power is there than to decide who should live and who should die?

This reminds me of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. They enjoyed having the power to make decisions for everyone. They believed they had the right to judge whether a life had value. Mark 4 tells the story of a deformed man whom Jesus chose to heal, but the leaders opposed the son of God because they cared more about power than life. They considered the man worthless and undeserving of compassion. Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” They didn’t answer, and Jesus was “deeply disturbed at their stubborn hearts.”

Revelation 4:11 says God (not man) is worthy of power, because He is the creator of life.1 Timothy 4:4 says everything God created is good and not to be rejected; but opponents of Christian values seek the power to decide what and whom will be considered good or if it should be rejected.

We Christians are not to allow what is good to be spoken of as evil. We may disagree about some things, but what we do agree on is that God (not ungodly men) can decide what is good. No human should take the power that belongs to God alone. They cannot determine what is to be rejected, and we cannot remain silent when they call evil good.

Christians have a responsibility to seek, understand, and take a stand for the will of God.

Matthew 5:14 reminds us that we are the light of the world. Let’s stand up for what’s right and shine our lights in the darkness of this “crooked and perverse generation” (Philippians 2:15).