The Interpreted Rock

By Stephen C. Schultz Tears welled up in my eyes as I moved my head back and forth in a Stevie Wonder like motion. The wind was whipping the smoke from the fire directly at me and no matter where I moved it seemed to follow. The age old saying, “Smoke follows beauty…and beauty was a horse” didn’t seem to be quite so humorous when I was the one in the smoke! The sun was setting and the wind seemed to subside a bit. I stared at the fire in a trance like state, watching as the flames snapped and nipped at invisible structures in the air. Sparks surfed skyward on heated currents, then disappeared in the blink of an eye. Shadows danced amongst the pines and junipers that surrounded the camp. There is something peaceful about a campfire; the warmth, the light, a sense of safety, the comfort of survival. My mind drifted to earlier that same evening. Troy (Name has been changed), a 17 yr old from Michigan, was in charge of building the fire that evening for the group. He proceeded t...

Guest Blogger Jennifer C. Jones Sean hears her footsteps on the stairs and quickly snaps the desk light off. He clicks back to World of Warcraft. It’s 2a.m.   He has exams tomorrow. Maybe she’ll think he’s studying. If not, he's been in trouble before for gaming...that's nothing new.   Just a few more minutes, then he’ll stop. “Sean” is one of millions of teenagers who use the Internet daily to find and view pornography . The Washington Post reports more than 11-million teens regularly view pornography on line.   That may not be surprising when Nielson Media Research reports 75% of   U.S. population over age two lives in homes with web access. The London School of Economics says nine out of 10 children between the ages of eight and 16 have viewed porn on the Internet. Most of the time it was accidental - often while a child was doing homework. But could there be a connection between Internet porn and behaviors that can encourage sexual de...

By Stephen C. Schultz This last weekend, I was busy with the family out doing yard work. The kids were weeding the flower beds and I was using the edger on the lawn. As is the case every time I use the edger, the line ran out half way through the job. I let out a few minor expletives under my breath and headed toward the car. I needed to run to the hardware store and pick up some more line. I pulled into the parking lot of the hardware store and slowly moved into a parking spot. Just as I was turning off the key to the ignition, there was a reverberating explosion close by. The kind you feel in your gut. Immediately I scanned the intersection to see if there was a car wreck of some kind. Then I turned to scan the parking lot. I saw some men and women running towards the back of the Chevron station that borders the parking lot. I quickly moved to the area of the explosion. There was a woman in her mid-sixties sitting, her back against the outside wall of the station. Her head wa...