Dr. Howell’s Reflections
Everyday, Dr. Howell writes a reflection, inquiry prompt, and a prayer.
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The Living Document 6
February 2, 2025
Every one of us carries some form of documentation that confirms our identity. In movies, TV, and books, some well-known lines are: "Show me your ID," "Get out your papers," and "Have your passport ready." For many of us, our driver's license is our most ready form of ID; for others, it is our social security number or birth certificate.
The Living Document 5
February 1, 2025
An authentic proclamation is a serious and formal announcement. It is a no-nonsense expression. My grandmother, who was born in 1892, used a colloquial expression of her day that I will never forget: It was, “Well, I declare.” She and others said this when they heard something surprising or unbelievable. When they said, “I declare,” it meant they declared what they heard as believable, valid or true.
The Living Document 4
January 31, 2025
A proclamation is a type of document. The first proclamations affecting our country were by King George of England. After our independence, proclamations were made by George Washington and every American president since. President Eisenhower wrote a proclamation admitting Alaska to the United States. And possibly the most famous proclamation in American history was issued by Abraham Lincoln — "The Emancipation Proclamation."
The Living Document 3
January 30, 2025
Most documents hold true through different eventualities and scenarios. Their intentions and purposes stand throughout many seasons, generations, and eras. Our lives as living documents contain the repertoire of our possible responses to all of life’s eventualities. No one can change a legal document unless authorized. As living documents, we must approve any changes in our responses or deletions of responses.
The Living Document 2
January 29, 2025
A document is a communication which has a specific purpose. Its purpose is to make statements about a particular body of knowledge. It is official. For example, an insurance policy, last will and testament, governmental document, or any legal document communicates something important and carries some sort of weight or implies a type of agreement or covenant. Books, scrolls, films, videos, and recordings can be considered types of documents. Documents usually connote some action. They can uphold, announce, or sometimes infer specific consequences.
The Living Document 1
January 28, 2025
A document is information that serves as a record, authority, or reference. Documents can be written, printed, electronic, or in any form that facilitates their purpose. A "living document" is one that is meant to be changed or amended as circumstances change and can be interpreted and applied differently under different conditions. For those reasons, it is sometimes called an evergreen or dynamic document. The United States Constitution, with its amendments, is an example. The constitutional amendments add to the document, and all three branches of the government can and have interpreted the Constitution in different ways.