The reality of the American political system is that, today, a voter has the choice of voting either Republican or Democrat. It would, conceivably, be nice to have a number of valid choices from which to choose when voting. As much as Bob Barr might like it to be so, our next President will either be a Republican or a Democrat.

Except for the fire in the trash can, our visit with the grandbabies was uneventful.

Every once in awhile, it’s good for Christians to pause to take a spiritual growth assessment. As Lutheran author Fred Lehr says, “Stifling the maturity process by denying it the fresh air of new insights and knowledge is (an) attachment that ensnares us.”

We continue this week with the Terry family of Coweta and Campbell counties, written and submitted by Nancy Jones Cornell of Fairburn. Nancy is president of the Old Campbell County Historical Society (OCCHS).

I was having breakfast with several area pastors this week and was about to put artificial sweetener into my coffee.

Keith Moore, the senior pastor at Peachtree City’s Dogwood Church, said, “Are you going to put all of that in your coffee?”

As Archie Bunker, in “All in the Family,” used to affirm, “Nixon knows something I don’t know.” It was both a comical and a semilogical way of standing behind the President’s much-berated Vietnam policies.

OK, let me get this out first. Do I think it’s still tough being an African-American? Absolutely. I’m not naïve. Things aren’t nearly as troublesome for American blacks as they were, say, back in the 1940s and ‘50s. But there are sure plenty of prejudices and other barriers, mostly economic, that remain for people in the United States who happen to enter the world with certain skin pigmentations. Heartbreaking and absurd, yes, but true.

In searching for villains for rising food and oil prices, some commentators have turned to speculators, namely people trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and similar exchanges around the world.

OK, I have to admit to behavior not becoming a mature person. Dave puts it best. “You just can’t accept a compliment, can you?”

I make a it habit to sit on the front row at every public meeting I attend if a seat is available. The reason for this is simple, at least for me.

By Ed Sherwood

With the approach of Memorial Day, I have been thinking a lot about my uncle who died in World War II. I was born in 1945 and do not remember learning about his death until I was 10 years old.

Dixie Dew and I quit a bank I’ve been doing business with for 15 years, marking the first time in 20 years that I have closed a financial account.

The California Supreme Court two weeks ago overturned California’s voter-chosen ban on same-sex marriage. What could that possibly have to do with the HBO series “John Adams” I wrote about recently?

Marriage isn’t just the chief underpinning of society or, for that matter, a raunchy comedy routine. In the minds of easily the great majority of Americans, marriage is an institution reflective of divine intent concerning human relationships and duties.

“The unexamined life is not worth living” said Socrates, five centuries before Jesus. Taking Socrates’ thought further, I assert that the unexamined faith is worthless. That is, if religious faith is to have value — if it is to have meaning and purpose, if it truly is to orient one to the ultimate reality known as God — then it must be regularly, personally, and thoroughly examined.

The evidence was clear, and it covered our hands and faces. There was no denying it, but we still tried. What else could we do? My three brothers and I had just devoured all of Mom’s imported chocolate and gotten caught red-handed. Or should I say chocolate-handed?

We priests and pastors are often concerned about whether our churches are successful. Unfortunately, we tend to think in a business model and measure them on the basis of land, buildings, numbers, finances, fame, and the like. Jesus, during his last days on earth, gave commands to the disciples that easily serve as goals and as measures of success.

All it takes is one gaffe to taint a Republican for life. The political establishment never let Dan Quayle live down his fateful misspelling of “potatoe.” The New York Times distorted and misreported the first President Bush’s questions about new scanner technology at a grocers’ convention to brand him permanently as out of touch.

Some parents who are concerned about their children receiving a steady diet of liberal-left indoctrination in schools and colleges regard the summer vacation as a time to show these young people a different way of looking at things, with readings presenting viewpoints that are unlikely to be heard in classrooms that have become indoctrination centers.

These days, people on “one side” of the political spectrum are not supposed to cooperate, much less have a personal relationship, with anyone on the “other side.” Siding with “the enemy” can get you branded a compromiser, a sellout, or fool.

The folders on the window bench next to my work table are full of on-going projects. Here lie ideas not yet ready for germination but too promising to entomb in the file cabinet.

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their churches. Here are a few questions that I’ve gotten over my years of ministry and via email since this column started.

On April 26, the Dixie Air Wing in Peachtree City hosted World War II Heritage Days, an annual event commemorating World War II and honoring its veterans. I was honored to be asked to give the remarks during the opening ceremony.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — As his delegate lead over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton expands with every news cycle, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama remains the overwhelming favorite to win the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. But Obama and his legions of zealous supporters would be well-advised to keep the champagne on ice and uncorked.

Here’s one thing I’m not good at doing: wasting time. I’m not bragging. We all should just take time to kill time before time kills us.

Some rather stupid stuff has been done over the years. Trust me, I know. I was there doing it.

It’s amazing that I’ve made it this long without some serious injury. Like the time Big Brother James encouraged me to throw a rock at a hornet’s nest in the old dead oak tree up at the lake. That’s how Mom found out I was allergic to bee stings and how I learned that the head of an 8-year-old could swell up to the size of a basketball if stung by a bazillion angry hornets.

I recently traveled to New York. On the plane, I met an actress named Lenora. During the long flight, I learned that a) she’s Jewish, b) she works as an actress, and c) was doing a play in the hyper-liberal city of Santa Monica, Calif. Not exactly, I thought, a Reagan Republican.

I recently took a bit of flak for my article on “incivility.” A small part of my column on the subject included, “People who don’t say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ or ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am.’”

If you thought the soft-porn image of Disney teen queen Miley Cyrus — wearing nothing but ruby-stained lips and a bedsheet — in Vanity Fair magazine was disturbing, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

What was her name again — the woman in the pants suit, running for president? Never mind. The business before the house is getting ready for the most rumbustious race for the presidency since the one we keep hearing about with those interminable rehashes of 1968.