PONTIFICUS MINIMUS OPINES The tongue of one Pontificus Minimus has yet again caused him trouble. The Good Book says in Proverbs, “When words are many, sin is not absent, be he who holds his tongue is wise.” So, when words are hyper-abundant, one can count on sin being just a breath away. Why? We are […]
Asking For and Giving Forgiveness Matters
September 2, 2011 Leave a Comment
Pontificus Minimus Opines “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” — Mark Twain. Ole Pontificus can be a tad bit testy at times, particularly when hungry, out of money, or just plain antsy due to being his dysfunctional self. Last week, he was edgier than necessary with […]
Who May Dwell in the Lords Sanctuary?
August 25, 2011 2 Comments
PONTIFICUS MINIMUS OPINES Old Pontificus and his ignoble brother, Poor William, have been trying to shore up what remains of their carbon-based, quickly deteriorating selves. They have been inspired by an adventurer, Dave Cornthwaite, who serendipitously arrived in our Delta midst via a standup paddleboard. He has been standing on this board since leaving the […]
Dont Be Suing My Broke Ass in the Cradle of Crazy
August 17, 2011 8 Comments
PONTIFICUS MINIMUS OPINES Instead of finishing the article I started late last night, which needs to be completed in about an hour by Delta Bohemian press time, more aptly akin to “river time,” a phrase Quapaw Canoe’s intrepid paddler John Ruskey refers to often when on the water and he and his wildly felicitous fellow […]
Sermon at Oakland United Methodist Church
August 4, 2011 13 Comments
PONTIFICUS MINIMUS OPINES The following sermon was given by Pontificus Minimus last Sunday at United Methodist Church in Oakland, Mississippi. Jeff Greer, childhood friend, invited Pontificus to “preach” at his church. Ole Pontificus was honored; it had been a long time since he had been in the pulpit–probably a good thing! Once upon a time, […]
Ungratefulness
July 27, 2011 1 Comment
By Pontificus Minimus “A thankless person rarely does a thankful deed.” — Author unknown How many folks do we know, often including ourselves, who harp on every negative aspect of every situation or event? It’s a shame! Ole Pontificus is no different; too often he focuses on the negatives instead of the positives, and when […]
Marshall Bouldin III and Troy Catchings: Peerless Artists
July 21, 2011 7 Comments
By Pontificus Minimus Rare is the opportunity in today’s amoral and egocentric times to be in the presence of two great men or women in an intimate setting at the same time. Recently, Pontificus had that singular pleasure, and it has the potential to change his life, it he will let it. Pontificus interviewed the […]
A Fathers Lament
July 7, 2011 4 Comments
Pontificus Minimus Opines: A lament is an expression of grief or sorrow. Now, there are LAMENTS and then there are laments: this is a lament. What is the difference? What say ye Pontificus? In my way of thinking, a LAMENT would deal with the trauma and angst of losing a child or watching one go […]
Sexting, Virtual Relationships, and the Erosion of Connectivity
June 23, 2011 8 Comments
Jeez, do we have a problem in the Good Ole UsofA! It used to be understood that there was not a family in our prosperous country not affected in some way by divorce–the erosion of the traditional nuclear family consisting of mother, father, and some “young uns.” It is no longer a stretch to say […]
Netanyahu Got It Right – Pontificus Minimus of The Delta Bohemian Opines about the Prime Minister’s address to Congress
May 26, 2011 11 Comments
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS INTRODUCTION: Pontificus Minimus, while wearing all the rough off a treadmill, read the subtitles to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s May 24th address to a joint session of Congress. This was his second such address; the first being during his first term as Prime Minister in 1996. Not many folks have every […]
Taming the Mississippi River: A God-Given Mandate?
May 19, 2011 3 Comments
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS →AERIAL VIDEO INCLUDED OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOOD OF 2011← Are the levees lining both sides of the swollen Mississippi River sufficient to hold back the tumescent waterway? According to many the levees are doing what they were designed to do, according to others the levees are not enough to be the only […]
Water Matters
May 12, 2011 18 Comments
By PONTINFUS MINIMUS PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOOD OF 2011 THAT ARE TAKEN ON THE FLOODWATERS (TAKEN BY DRIFTWOOD JOHNNIE – aka JOHN RUSKEY of QUAPAW CANOE COMPANY) AND FROM AN AIRCRAFT (TAKEN BY POOR WILLIAM) ARE IN THIS POST Water is presently occupying the thoughts of much of the world’s population, and for […]
Mattie Louise Mattered
April 28, 2011 4 Comments
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS and POOR WILLIAM The following eulogy was given at the lads’ maternal grandmother’s funeral on October 6, 1996. She was a grand and classy dame–the finest of the finest. The use of the first person singular in the eulogy covers both Pontificus and Poor William; they sometimes think they are the same […]
The Hope of Zihuatanejo
April 21, 2011 Leave a Comment
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS Pronounced (Zee-wah-tah-nay-hoe), this real-life vacation destination on the Pacific coast of Mexico is where Morgan Freeman’s character Red in The Shawshank Redemption found his friend Andy Dufresne, years after Andy escaped from a wrongly convicted 20-year stint in prison. Categorically, some of Pontificus’s favorite quotes come from this heart-wrenching, rife-with-conflict tale of […]
God is in Gardens
April 14, 2011 4 Comments
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS Gardens and gardening reflect God’s creative and redemptive power. Many a pastoral life’s non-encumbrances include outside air, sunshine, the smell of soil, time for reflection, and the greatest gift of all–watching a tiny green plant with a leaf or two and a limp stem grow into whatever God designed during its ancestral […]
Physical Training versus Godliness
April 7, 2011 7 Comments
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS In the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to his protégé Timothy, he writes: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Godliness and the pursuit of the spiritual trump humanity’s concern with the physical body. […]
Kathryn’s Crossroads
March 31, 2011 Leave a Comment
PONTIFICUS MINIMUS OPINES: Kathryn’s Crossroads By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS This tribute to Kathryn Grace Levingston first ran in the Clarksdale Press Register immediately after she became a Bat Mitzvah this past June, 2010. The deeply spiritual and well-ordered service was categorically one of the most meaningful religious ceremonies Pontificus has ever had the privilege of attending. […]
Where has My Reflection Gone?
March 23, 2011 1 Comment
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS Aye, Pontificus Minimus laments the loss of his reflection, but this does not mean he is “Vlad the Impaler” or another nocturnal, blood-sucking vampirish creature, unable to see his reflection. It simply means that 21st century living in the good ole US of A does not allow much time for reflection. Oh, […]
The Tongue
March 17, 2011 Leave a Comment
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS That little ole wet, tasting muscle, which hangs out in our mouth, serves more than just to detect flavors and foods; it is a veritable life sustainer or life crusher. We can either edify others with its use or we can destroy them with the words emanating from it. It has been […]
Ubuntu and Donne
March 10, 2011 6 Comments
By PONTIFICUS MINIMUS Ubuntu is the age-old African concept that portrays all people linked–past, present, and future. We are all connected and we rise and fall as one people. It strives for cooperation, harmony, and understanding between cultures, nations, and individuals The concept is similar to what is seen in the tenor of Elizabethan poet […]
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