What a difference a day makes. Or especially a weekend. Last Friday the trees were bowed with the weight of the ice that they bore on their limbs. Today it is 57 degrees and sunny. February bought more winter weather for Southern Illinois than we have seen in some time.

I have been thinking about passive-aggressive people. I have witnessed ministers who became angry or peeved with members of their congregation and thus sought to preach sermons that were directed toward their anger issues. The same can be said for supervisors and managers and administrators. People who are sweet as Maple Syrup…but have a switchblade held between the shoulder blades of their perceived nemesis…are to be avoided. Our human interaction and communication are often muddied by the games that people play.

Russia is lying through its teeth regarding its motivations for invading and declaring war on Ukraine. I listened as the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations lie in virtually every sentence that he passionately enunciated to his colleagues. Almost everyone in his audience knows that he is lying…and he knows that he is lying…and this substitutes for diplomacy… During my career, I often called out administrators and others who had insulted my intelligence by lying to my face… We will never understand each other unless we speak the truth to each other. When obfuscation becomes an accepted form of communication in the church and the workplace and in international relations…we are all in a terrible conundrum.