I knew the letter would come someday. I had been leaving a task on the back burner and left it there much longer than I intended. Finally, after several years, the letter came. I was informed that I was under a deadline and, if I didn’t complete certain non-negotiable requirements, my life would unceremoniously be terminated. My academic life, that is.

GM, now renamed Government Motors, has a new CEO: President Barack Obama.

By replacing the head of the company and demanding a restructuring of its board in return for further financial TARP aid, Obama has taken upon himself the responsibility for the future of the company.

The mind boggles, and then again, maybe it doesn’t, having become what you might call boggle-proof over repeated assertions of federal government power to do this and do that, whatever you please, don’t bother asking.

Someone once said that, for every rookie you have on your starting team in the National Football League, you will lose a game. Somewhere, at some time during the season, a rookie will make a mistake that will cost you a game.

Most of our nation’s great problems, including our economic problems, have as their root decaying moral values.

Whether we have the stomach to own up to it or not, we have become an immoral people left with little more than the pretense of morality.

Birdwatchers respond graciously to stories like the one I wrote two weeks about our Carolina wrens. The short of it: A pair of wrens made a practice nest in the center of a one-time-Christmas wreath still next to our front door.

The purpose of this column is to facilitate a detailed — but anonymous — critique of the Fayette County School System’s leadership.

Oh, the games politicos play, sneaking through the back doors, throwing up smoke screens, searching for scapegoats.

The AIG bonuses are the most recent reminder of just how bad our government is skewed toward the special interests. They are so caught up in their ways, they cannot see the freight train of social justice heading straight toward them. Yes, Congress knew about the bonuses; yes, the lobbyists know how to distract those in power.

This past week proved to be another busy one for the House of Representatives. We are set to start our last week and the pace of bills and resolutions being considered is brisk. Last week we considered several important bills.

In the sleepy Southern town of Selma, Ala., there is no denying that history has visited in times past and made its memorable mark. To enter into the town from the interstate, it is necessary to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge, made famous by the march of the civil rights protesters.

Blooming flowers, green grass, more sun. Fresh starts. What a wonderful concept!

Springtime makes the world new again. We’re beginning to see it all around us. Bradford pears and daffodils. Azaleas and dogwoods. Blooming flowers, green grass, more sun, and fresh starts.

My oldest son called the other day with a prayer request. He was, it turns out, about to be “Tazered.”

Jason is a lieutenant with the Peachtree City Police Department, and some officers are going to be equipped with Tazers.

For President Pelosi and her cohorts, having swatted A.I.G. with that 90 percent bonus tax, it’s on to oversight of executive pay. At least according to the New York Times, which quotes “officials” as saying the White House is weighing a proposal to make companies “tie executive compensation more closely to corporate performance and to take other steps to ensure that competition was aligned with the financial interest of the company.”

Without knowing it, without realizing it, something has happened. I’ve matured as a human being.

Trust me — it’s as big of a surprise to me as it is to some of you. The extremely opinionated, often vocal, sometimes confrontational young man is now gone. Replacing him is someone who is much mellower, conciliatory, and actually thinks of the consequences before he speaks.

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a “finding” to the White House Office of Management and Budget that will force the Obama administration to decide whether to limit greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

Our Colonial ancestors petitioned and pleaded with King George III to get his boot off their necks. He ignored their pleas, and in 1776, they rightfully declared unilateral independence and went to war.

A familiar voice spoke into my ear from the pew behind us, as the congregation was settling down to worship.

“Can you believe it’s been 20 years?” Paul Yellina said, and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

The week after The Citizen published my March 4 article about the practical difficulties involved in adjudicating traffic citations in our municipal courts, a Fayetteville citizen, Anne Copen, wrote about her own recent, and unhappy, experience in contesting a failure-to-stop citation.

With Crossover Day behind us, the end of a challenging 2009 regular session draws near. The House and Senate have six legislative days remaining before we adjourn on Friday, April 3.

The U.S. Treasury recently released its “2008 Financial Report of the United States Government.” In case you had any doubts, our government’s finances are in a terrible mess.

Dixie Dew didn’t notice, but I did. She was too busy sniffing grass and prancing her bigger-than-it-should be tail while I was casually observing life during an afternoon walk.

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are a few that I have received during my years of ministry and via email for this column.

I heard a few days ago that a news network was going to do a program about how the American taxpayers came to buy Wall Street for $2 trillion. I’ve also noticed that people are saying that certain banks are now owned by the taxpayers and how much more the taxpayer is going to own in the months ahead. Um — I don’t think so.

While the Washington establishment hyperventilates over those AIG bonuses, with the president taking time to flay donors and recipients; and while Congress nervously sidles up to the multi-trillion-dollar Obama budget; yes, and while the Democrats roll out a new attack strategy to cope with the Republicans’ somewhat older attack strategy — hit pause.

They live among us, posing as average teenagers. You may have one or two living in your house and not even be aware of them. They have identifiable traits such as rudeness, crudeness, and disrespectful. Some may even smell, but don’t let them fool you.

Someone once said that Senator Hubert Humphrey, liberal icon of an earlier generation, had more solutions than there were problems.

Ask the average person which is the correct answer to the following question: Which president gave the biggest tax cuts for the rich — Reagan or Bush? I would bet the rent money that you would not get the correct response, which is: Presidents have no taxing authority. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises.” I know that many politicians and news media people read my column. How do we characterize them if they continue to speak of presidents cutting or raising taxes?

With my background, I usually don’t try to look into the future; it is not a useful venture for a scientist. However, my involvement with the strange process that is taking place with the West Fayetteville Bypass has led me to the following scenario for events surrounding this unfortunate project.

It appears the new “normal” is we must pay more and more taxes, pressuring our neighbors to do the same, redistributing the wealth if necessary.

One of the busiest days of every legislative session is “Crossover Day.” Crossover Day, the 30th legislative day, is the last day legislation may pass out of its originating chamber to be considered by the other chamber.