Opinion

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

For several weeks, we've looked at Jesus the Messiah in Isaiah's prophetic message from God. The first 37 chapters of Isaiah contain many prophecies about a king who will establish an eternal kingdom; long before the land of Israel was divided, God made a promise to David. "'I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever'” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

GUEST COLUMN, Greg Doering, Kansas Farm Bureau

I still have my very first pocketknife, a Henckels three-bladed stockman with a red bone handle. It’s safely stowed in a drawer now because its everyday utility was long ago surpassed by its sentimental value.

It was a gift from my father, as should be the case for every child’s first pocketknife. But it was so long ago I can’t remember if it was a birthday or Christmas present. I do know I was still young enough that opening the blades was somewhat difficult.

SAINTS PERSPECTIVE, SCCC President Brad Bennett

We are less than a week away from Christmas, and it is not just the kids who are ready for the holiday. Growing up, my mother liked to say, “If you don’t believe, you don’t receive.” It still rings true for me in more ways than one.

Here on the campus of Seward County Community College, we are in the middle of an academic year that bears out the wisdom in what my mom liked to say. Starting nearly three years ago, when we created our Strategic Plan, we believed that increasing enrollment was critically important for a secure future for the college and for the community we serve. More important, we believed it was possible to achieve our goal of growing enrollment by five percent year over year.

GUEST COLUMN, J. Basil Dannebohm

On Sept. 20, 1963, President John F. Kennedy spoke to the General Assembly of the United Nations. In his address he said, “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” Two months later the President’s life would be cut short by an assassin’s bullet; his vision of peace would become a hallmark of his legacy.

Six decades later, our world continues to struggle with the notion of peace.