Author Archives: rogerbarbee

Robert Fitzgerald, the translator of Homer, writes “You must learn Greek if you want to experience Homer….” He’s correct of course, but many of us readers interested in ancient texts do not read ancient Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, or other languages, which forces us to depend on translations or varied editions. Translating a text requires notContinue reading “NRSV Edited”

For the past week I have been housebound because the heavy snow storm and its wind left a pile of snow on the back ramp, which I use to enter and exit our house. Over the past eight days of freezing temperatures the pile became a large ice mass. But my friend Shawn came yesterdayContinue reading ”  A Frozen Week”

Recently I read an article in the Iredell Free Press by Karissa Miller about the first Iredell County Commissioner’s meeting in 2022. Miller’s article covered the arguments of parents objecting to the mask’s mandates for local schools. While her article presented anticipated parental objections against the mandate,  one stood out for its originality. According toContinue reading “Free to Say, Yet Responsible to Truth”

On January 20, 2011, Reynolds Price died from complications of a heart attack. He was 77. In April 1997 Price received a letter from Jim Fox who had read Price’s memoir, A Whole New Life, his story of the 1984 diagnosis of spinal cord cancer, which caused paralysis of his legs, placing him in aContinue reading ““Persist, My Friend””

Soon following our move to Lake Norman almost five years ago, my wife Mary Ann looked for a representative for a particular beauty product she used. Scanning a long list of saleswomen, she randomly chose one and called her. After their long conversation had finished, Mary Ann came to the library to tell me howContinue reading ”                                                Old Wrestlers”

The 26-degree temperature and frozen bird baths announce this morning’s cold, the first hard chill of 2022. In fact, (“I think to myself, what a wonderful world”) that it is the first one of this winter season as I watch robins, cardinals, chickadees, and thrashers trying to create just a crack in the cruel iceContinue reading “Wonderful Winter Day”

Dear Congressman McHenry: Yesterday’s mail brought your most recent flyer which touted on one side some of your 2021 accomplishments and on the reverse side broadcasted, “I want to hear from you.” Below you listed selected issues with a box next to each for checking their concern and a space for “Other.” The list isContinue reading “A Letter to My Congressman”

In one of the many videos of a fan fight that erupted during a game at the John Wall Invitational this week, a voice can be heard saying over and over as the melee is being filmed, “They gonna’ start shootin’.” Fortunately that did not happen, but at a basketball tournament in Salisbury, NC theContinue reading ”                                                Respect”

As a Christ follower, who is doing his best to be obedient, I recently find myself feeling deep empathy for God. I feel this not because I have a sense of superiority to God, but because so many folks seem to invoke His name as an excuse for their behavior or to justify a desire.Continue reading “Poor God”

Joshua Lawson Quoir,  $7.95 softcover A dozen voices from southern Ohio along the Ohio River reveal the humanity behind addiction. These dozen daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, and others speak honestly to Joshua Lawson. In their sharing, they show that they are not to be shunned, but to be loved and valued because what they haveContinue reading “The Face of Addiction: Stories of Loss and Recovery“