Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

The Man with the Twisted Lip

August 28, 2025

We’ve discussed romantic comedies and science fiction in previous columns. Today we are going to look at the mystery genres. I say this in the plural because what was once known as mysteries is now so much more. Just as all the other types of stories have morphed into additional groups there are now dozens, if not hundreds of ways to tell a suspenseful tale.

We have thrillers, murder mysteries, suspense, romantic mysteries, locked door dramas, and so many more. When I think of this genre, I think of certain classic authors. Agatha Christie, P.D. James, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allen Poe, etc. One of my problems with modern mystery fiction is that most writers only know how to solve murders.

Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes solved mysteries and murders. My favorite is “The Man with the Twisted Lip.” If you have never read it, I will not spoil it for you. Get a copy and read it.

The funny thing about this story is that it begins as an investigation to find a missing man. His wife saw him in a window in a bad part of London. She is prevented from entering the building and as the investigation proceeds, she discovers that he does not work where he told her that he did.

A man is arrested in conjunction with the disappearance. Holmes solves the case by washing the prisoner’s face. The solution is that this wealthy man made himself up as a poor beggar and earned his money as a professional pan handler. This was not illegal even in that day. It was not a profession accepted by society.

Today we have schools where you can take classes on how to put the touch on others. Did you know that the person who you see at the airport with the sad story that all their money and ticket were just stolen, and they have no way to get home may have taken this training.

Shortly after I saw a report on television about these seminars, I had a lady walk up to me at a gas station. She had run out of gas and was on her way to Kansas City. I asked about her car, and she was vague. She needed ten or twenty dollars because there was a problem with her credit card. I was with my wife and offered to use a gas can I had in my trunk and take her to her car and bring her back to the station and pay for her gas. When I turned to finish filling my tank, she disappeared.

She had not come from the convenience store, and I was already suspicious. On the report I saw you were told to park away from the station and accept only cash. This type of farse is like the online and phone scams that we hear about on local TV.

Then there is the man that handed his sign off to a lady and walked into the Wal-Mart parking lot as my wife and I went inside. When we came out, we drove past an expensive conversion van and recognized the man inside watching television while sitting at a table having a meal with others.

The woman that had taken his place was walking back to the van and as we went by the intersection, someone else was holding the same sign. These were professional panhandlers. No homeless people here. This has been happening for hundreds of years.

How do we stop it? Give contributions to organizations that help the homeless or indigent. Do not give anything to someone you do not know. Don’t even give them food. We have seen full fast food bags left on the curb. If you want to find a person or group that you are familiar with that needs assistance, take that route.

When a local charity sent buses to pick up the beggars on the streets to take them to jobs, within three months they discontinued the program. One time a guy held a sign that said, “Will strip for food.” I’m sure that guy doesn’t need any help except psychiatrics.

That Offends Me

August 26, 2025

Those with Jewish heritage are fighting those who hate Jews to keep the history of the holocaust in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. Some say that the historical fact of the execution of thousands of Jews and others cannot be proven. Holocaust survivors say that they remember these events. In one hundred years, will this be removed from history books?

Black Lives Matter protesters want Confederate flags and statues removed. They do not want to be reminded of the fact that their ancestors were owned by other Americans. This is viewed as a black against white issue. The fact is that some Caucasian Americans are among the activists you see in the news clips.

Another fact that some want to be removed from history is the stories of slave owners like William and Henry Ellison. They are slave owners who were of African American heritage. That’s no big deal. You are talking about only two blacks who owned slaves. Check out the book “Black Slaveowners” by Larry Koger. He uses historical records that still exist to show the number of former slaves and freemen who purchased and used their own slaves to establish businesses that were profitable to them.

This does not make slavery or racial prejudice acceptable. It does separate those of us who have never owned slaves or accepted racial disparities from anyone of any race who currently has racial prejudices. Oh, by the way, crimes are committed inside racially identical groups. That means whites kill whites, blacks kill blacks, and Asians kill Asians. Therefore, I believe all lives matter. That includes blacks. I believe it is an act of racial prejudice to use this BLM slogan. Does that offend you? I am sorry. It is my opinion. In this country, I am allowed to express it.

Let’s step away from race and look at other forms of bigotry. A person who kills or injures someone else because they are in some way like another person who did injury to one who is like them in any way is acting on prejudice. Was that confusing? I’ll give you two examples. A white person who attacks a black person they do not know just because they are black. A person who attacks a police officer because of the uniform they are wearing. I know you have many examples you can share of this type of bigotry.

What is the solution? Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Do not accept or reject anyone because of pre-conceived ideas that you have been taught or created for yourself. If I want a society free of bigotry and prejudice, I must work every day to dispel it from my own mind.

Little White Church

August 24, 2025

Have you heard this country song by Little Big Town from 2010? I would like to take a moment to share it with you. Two different feelings come depending on whether you watch the video or just listen to the audio.

Ladies, do you have a guy who will not make a commitment to marriage? Maybe you should play this song for him. As a man, I can tell you our inclination is to delay marriage if we can have what we want without it. Yes, I am talking about sex. As a father of three girls, I made sure my daughters understood this.

Are you worth a man’s love and respect? Then you need to show him that you are. We all have sexual desires, and our culture says that we can do whatever we want to if we are adults. Just because we want to participate in something does not mean it is best for us. Decisions we make today will have consequences tomorrow.

The next verse takes us to the video for this song. It shows the bride going to the church and at the same time her mother drugs the groom, ties him up, and puts him in the trunk of a car.

Many parents have doubts about the potential mate their child has chosen. It is usually wise not to mention this. Most of us do not want to admit that our parents are correct and we are wrong. Voicing your opinion may simply drive them towards making a bad choice. Back off and let them decide for themselves.

The conclusion of this song was the desire of my wife and I with our girls. The decisions are theirs and it is something every man and woman needs to consider. Your choices are your own and so are the results.

All three of our daughters married before having children. Their husbands are fine men. All three are teachers. The two oldest are in public schools and the youngest home schools their children. We have twelve wonderful grandchildren, and life is great for all of us.

Our churches are not always white, and sometimes they do not even meet in what is thought of as a church building, but the idea is to meet with the church that is the body of Christ, the gathering together of believers. It isn’t just there to marry couples. They have solutions for almost everything.

The death of the RNC

August 22, 2025

NPR release Oct. 27, 2237

Research has shown that November 5, 2024, was the last election where any of those elected were members of the Republican Party. Historians for the last few years have tried to find the reasons for this over one-hundred-year-old organization simply falling away like the Whigs, Torreys, and others.

The electorate seems to have been disillusioned by almost all the federal, state, and local candidates. No Republican could gain any office in the next election. The democratic, libertarian, green, and constitutional parties and non-partisan candidates defeated every incumbent. Two years later, no candidate was declared a member of this party.

That could never happen? Ask those who have researched these other parties that died off in the last two hundred years. Did they think that it could happen to them? I do not think so.

Think about why you do not vote for a particular person. If they are not a Republican, they do not receive your vote. Maybe it is the Democrats that you vote for. Or do you decide against anyone in these groups? My Dad said he would never choose a Catholic in 1960. John F. Kennedy was nominated, and he said he would write in Old Yeller Dog. He refused to vote for a Republican.

Kennedy won. He never admitted he voted for him until after the assassination. I heard him tell my mother that he could not believe anyone would kill the man he had voted for.

I am not like my parents. I refuse to vote for anyone for one reason only. I cannot vote for anyone that supports national candidates that should not even be on the ballot. I did not vote for either major candidate in 2016. I believe the republicans nominated Hillary Clinton and the Democrats chose Donald Trump. In 2024, Missouri republicans chose their candidate by a caucus. They are responsible for Trump being on the ballot.

From the first day he was inaugurated, Trump has been violating his oath of office. He declared he would uphold the Constitution of the United States. He has had executive orders overturned or questioned on constitutional grounds.

He has now taken over the District of Columbia police department, even though statistics show that crime is down this year. These are steps to be prepared for Martial Law being declared in 2029 when he is required to vacate the office. His attempt to ignore the Twenty-Second Amendment had failed.

I have never been a partisan voter. I am hard core non-partisan and believe that the only way to solve most of the problems in our election process is to change our nomination process for every elected position. During a national primary, the top three candidates should be placed on the general election ballot. Parties would not even be listed.

My Republican and Democratic friends said they had to give their backing to their candidate. I hope they do not do this again. My votes for all candidates will be based on who is the best qualified for the position. I will vote for very few on the two major party tickets. I hope you will join me.

It’s in his kiss

August 20, 2025

Kissing in different cultures means varied things. There are also different types of kisses. On the cheek, the hand, the lips, or even the ear or back of the neck. Kissing in our culture is considered romantic. European, Middle Eastern, and other cultures greet friends and acquaintances with a kiss or two on the cheek.

Handshaking is the American method of greeting in most of our communities. As a Christian and a Baptist, I am very familiar with this process. We often modify the standard handshake. You and your friends or family may have a secret or non-secret way to greet each other. Organizations can have variations on the common greeting.

I want to talk about the romantic type of kiss. One of my favorite subjects for situation comedies. You take a prepubescent girl and a boy of a similar age, and a story of the desire for a first kiss and a distaste for the opposite sex. The variations are innumerable. Almost every TV show has had an episode based on this situation.

We all know that movies often feature storylines about kisses. Romantic comedies almost always require kissing between the two leads. Often, there is this kind of action between those who do not believe they are in love. I can think of many films where young people and sometimes older characters find kissing many others a fun thing to do.

Jewelry companies want us to think that their products will get us kissed. That has not been my experience. I can’t talk a lot about the subject of kissing multiple partners. I kissed two or three other girls before I started dating Cindy. When I began kissing her, I enjoyed it very much.

I think she also enjoyed it. She didn’t like it when I tried to kiss her with other people around. When I kissed her goodnight after a date, she never refused or acted like she did not enjoy it. As our relationship continued, so did my desire to hold her and kiss her even more.

As with most couples, we no longer spend time just holding each other and kissing as we did early in our marriage. Hugging and kissing are still part of our life together. It isn’t as large a part as it was in the early years. Three children, twelve grandchildren, and all of life’s time constraints take a toll.

Intimacy is still important. It is necessary for a strong relationship. It is a form of communication for us. We sleep in the same bed. Share a house and many other things. Our fiftieth anniversary is a year away, and I still enjoy being with her as much as I ever have.

I hope that your marriage is going well, also. A kiss is not the best way to tell if you are loved. Paul gives us a list of things that we should use to indicate if someone loves us. Patience and kindness are two of them. Work on kissing, hugging, kindness, and patience, and I think you will go a long way.

Friends and family

August 18, 2025

I’d like to discuss several things with you today. The first is family and friends. I am fortunate that I have had a lot of family all my life. I have two older brothers and a younger sister, thanks to my mom and dad. In addition, there was an abundance of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Many are now gone, but each generation is larger than the last.

The truth is that we are not as close as we once were. We attend family reunions, funerals, and sometimes even weddings. Not like we used to. The youngest generation doesn’t seem to marry as often as we did. Some of my cousins got married two or three times each. We all just tend to die once, and recently we are living longer. I know it isn’t due to healthy living.

What brought on this wave of nostalgia? A commercial about one of these delivery services. A lady is lying in her bed, and there is some unidentifiable noise and movement around her. The camera pans back, and her bed is caught between two automatic doors. The voice over says, “If you can’t take your bed to the store,” then they will bring whatever you need to you.

Guess what, isn’t that what friends and family are for? In the bad old days before smartphone apps, you just picked up the phone, plugged into the wall, and called family or a friend to bring you what you needed.

We are suffering from violence, attacks, and other crimes against more people than ever. There seems to be no way to avoid this. My wife and I seldom leave our home at night. We have a security system at our place, and we know our neighbors. We feel secure in our home.

Do we need to have random strangers coming to our home bringing groceries, medications, and prepared food? There are cases where these random strangers return later, and you are no longer safe. If I do not know you, I don’t invite you into my home.

We go out to pick up carry-out. We do not choose Door Ditch, Pan Handle Pete, or Consta Cart to bring things to us. We occasionally ask our pharmacy to deliver prescriptions. We used to call the pizza place for delivery until the drivers looked like the perps on Blue Bloods or the undercover cops from Chicago PD. We have taken medicines to our kids for their kids or themselves. Especially when they were quarantined during the COVID-19 crisis.

Have you seen the original Crocodile Dundee movie? You know, the one named “Crocodile Dundee.” There is a scene in it where Dundee is told that the reporter he is visiting in New York needs to go to a therapist. Mick doesn’t understand. He asks, “Don’t you have any mates?”

Friends and family or mates used to help each other out. They still do in some communities. Our neighbors, church community, and close family still do. I’ve been called by cousins and friends to officiate at weddings and funerals, as well as get someone to a doctor or take food for them when they are ill. It costs us money not to have people we trust and on whom we can depend.

The next time you need something and can’t go get it for yourself, stop and think of whom you can call to bring it to you. You can’t think of anyone? How about one of those for whom you did the same thing last week? Has it been a while since you helped someone? Maybe that is the problem?

It’s August and hot

August 16, 2025

Let’s face it, this is true. I have known this all my life. The year I was born is the ninth hottest here in Springfield, Missouri. I have watched the high temperatures this month for years. Forty years ago, I told our daughters each time the high for that day was in my birth year.

Checking the statistics, I find that from my birth to last year there are only four Augusts with higher average temperatures. 2007, 1995, 1983, and 1980 are the only years in the last seventy years with temperatures that exceed my year.

Mom reminded me almost every year on my birthday how hot it was when she was pregnant with me. Ladies, I must honor her and apologize to you who are currently new mothers or still expecting the heat. While I have nothing to do with your discomfort, I was instrumental in my own mother’s.

I remember growing up and hearing that we were on the verge of a new ice age in the 1960s. Now there are people that want us to believe that we are all going to burn to death if we do not accept the doomsday prophets that tell us there are holes in the ozone layer.

While researching this column, I find that this does not seem to be true. There are as many scientists who do not share this view as the ones that swear, they are correct. Most scientists know that their estimates are only guesses and may be in error.

Stop and think about it. What other job than meteorologist can you be wrong that often and keep the job? I respect these trained professionals for doing their best and being willing to take the ribbing that sometimes comes when they predict flurries and we have several inches of snow fall, right Dale Noah?

Every woman who is becoming a mother needs respect and patience even when it is not this hot. This is the most difficult job there is. Some are life threatening, but none have the rewards or stress than motherhood does.

Yes, fatherhood has its share of difficulties as well. I know that. But, guys, we must admit that our wives and children’s mothers have it rougher than we do. Even the President of the United States is calling for women to have more babies to keep our economy active.

Remember that this is not an original idea. God told us to be fruitful and multiply to populate the earth. He has also encouraged us through the prophet Malachi that the Jews and we as Christians should produce new generations that will follow Jehovah.

Parenthood is an honored and useful profession that is not a political concept. God created families to raise children in a loving home. Mothers and fathers are instructed to teach them to be good people. This is nothing new.

Tariffs are here

August 14, 2025

OMG. What are we going to do now that all these prices are going up? With over forty years in purchasing and procurement, I have done extensive research with my sources in the business community and have identified seven steps to minimize the impact of this crisis on your life.

If you work in the transportation industry, prepare for a possible layoff. Depending on the impact of these higher costs you may have cutbacks on the amount of time you work. Cut back on expenses. Don’t take out any more debt. Try to save as much as you can. Don’t buy frivolous items. Sodas, coffee, lunch or dinner, alcoholic beverages, or lottery tickets are a few things I will eliminate. For the most part it may not affect you at all.

Buy American made. I am talking about things that are made from beginning to end in this country. In our area this is the season for local festivals. Handmade gifts are in abundance at these annual events.

Make your own gifts. You have time. Draw or paint a picture. The next time a friend or family member tells you they like a painting or t-shirt that is a simple design. Get the materials to make it and give it a shot. My walls are festooned with creations from makers I have known for years. Every morning an eagle swoops down on me in bed. Identify what your talent is and create something.

Buy early. Christmas is coming. It will be the same day as it has for over two thousand years. Buy now. Do not wait. I like to save money as well. This is not the year to pass what you want or need because it may be cheaper tomorrow.

Do not create shortages where they are not needed. Did you know that much of the toilet paper and paper towels used in this country are produced in this country? Remember the TP shortage during the COVID pandemic? That was due to shipping problems because there was a truck driver shortage.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. That was popular in the 1970s. Bring it back. Don’t buy things you do not need. Need another piece of furniture? Repurpose something you already have. When I say recycling, I mean give or sell things that are perfectly good to someone else. We have been selling and donating items we have stored for years. We need the room. We do not need the stuff.

Buy items coming in from nontariff Countries. Forget Canada, Mexico, and China or any other country that haven’t kissed the ring. Freight comes in from north, south, west and east. Now is the time to limit ourselves.

There are probably other ways you can think of to save stress over this increase in prices. I won’t call it inflation because certain people don’t want anyone to use that word. I would love to hear your comments. You might be the person who has a better idea than all of us talking heads. Or in some cases the other end of the donkey.

Happy Birthday, Gary

August 12, 2025

Old friends are a treasure that some do not have in abundance. I am not one of those. In the 1960’s we lived on Nichols Street. The house sat on one lot, and the lot next door on the corner of Warren Ave. also belonged to Dad and Mom. To the east on Nichols was Rick. Rob lived on West Ave. Frank and Gary lived north on Warren. I’ve lost track of all of them except for the last. Over the last several years, I have tried to call him on his birthday. This year, I am going to write about some of our joint experiences.

I could call him a hand-me-down friend, but I prefer the terms longtime family friend or brother from a different mother. Gary started school at York Elementary, the same year my brother Sam did. Four years later, when I began my education there, they did not want a kid like me hanging around. When my brother graduated from high school and joined the Navy, the process of being a family friend had already started.

We attended the same church, and when I was in the Youth group, he was in High School and graduated the year I finished Junior High. He took a year away from SMSU and his degree to join the National Guard to begin his military career. He returned as a part-time student and was there when my college career began four years after he started.

Lunch at the cafeteria, or Bear’s Den, bowling, and pinball games at the campus union solidified this friendship between my brother Bud, Gary, and me. If it had not been for him bringing the new pastor at church to meet me and invite me to a group for college students, I might not have been called and accepted my call to ministry. Because of that, I left SMSU and transferred to Southwest Baptist College.

As a side note, Gary’s first nephew was born on my sixteenth birthday, the day before his. I don’t know if I have been forgiven for the ribbing I gave him about that. He may not know it, but one of my daughters was born in August. Fortunately, she came before either of our birthdays. I was glad because I didn’t want the teasing I gave him.

Gary graduated and was promoted and moved by the company he worked for. We saw each other briefly at Christmas. When Sam went back to the Navy, he drove to visit Gary up north and through Pennsylvania to see me where I was pastoring a church that summer, and then down to his duty station in Florida.

The next phase of our relationship was when he returned to Springfield and began working where Cindy, my wife, worked. I remember the night he came by our house and told us he had been terminated. That was when he started dating his future wife, who also worked there.

He raised his family, and I mine these last forty years, and we have talked from time to time. Some special occasions brought us together. Birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, and even the occasional Walmart trips meant short or protracted conversations.

He is still employed, unlike Cindy and I. From time to time, I visit him at work, as I did when I was working, and he is someone I can confide in and share memories with him that no one else knows about.

We can truly be called old friends in more ways than one. This is my way of saying, Happy Birthday to you, my dear friend. And many more.

The unknown holiday

August 11, 2025

That is correct. Most Christians and non-Christians alike in Springfield, Missouri, and all over this country and the world miss the significance of this day every year. It is not a national or religious holiday, but an event that took place on this date years ago that transformed the universe as we know it. Explore some of the lesser events that took place on August 11th.

Calvin Coolidge, John W. Davis, and Robert La Follette, held a presidential debate in 1924 that was filmed for a Newsreel for the first time. In 1929, Babe Ruth was the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs. Not the best he would do, but it was a start. The first prisoner to Alcatraz Island arrived there in 1934.

1942 saw the patent issued to Hedy Lamar and George Antheil for a frequency hopping spread spectrum communication device. What is that, do you ask? That was the first use of technology currently used in wireless devices and the Wi-Fi everyone uses.

Frederick W. Smith founded FedEx in 1944. In 1969, the Apollo 11 crew members were released from quarantine. Hip Hop was born at a teen party, and American Graffiti opened in 1973. The Mall of America opened in 1992.

It is also Flag Day in Pakistan and Independence Day in Chad. Today was the day in 1984 that President Reagan said on national radio, “We begin bombing in five minutes.”

Today is the birthday of Alex Hailey, author of “Roots”, Hulk Hogan, wrestler, Lloyd Nolan, Actor, Jerry Falwell, Evangelist, Frederick W. Smith, the founder of FedEx, and Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers, me, Colby Rasmus, Michael Cavin, and Mike Douglas.

Mr. Douglas also died on this date. Also dying on this date were: Andrew Carnegie in 1919, Jackson Pollock, Painter in 1956, Phil Harris in 1995, Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 2009, Mell Taylor of the Ventures in 1996, and Robin Williams in 2020.

I am sure that your question is which of these things would be considered a holiday. None is by most people. For me, the one that I consider a holiday is my birthday. Most of us think that we should be celebrated every year. My sixteenth birthday was special, not just for getting to start driving. Recall another birthday I listed for Michael Cavin?

He is the nephew of a friend of mine who was born that day. I call him my twin brother. On his sixteenth birthday, I wished him a happy birthday at a youth event at church. He knew I was friends with his parents, but did not know about us having the same birthday. Now we wish each other happy birthday almost every year.

You should think of the day of your birthday as an unknown holiday. Those who care about you should celebrate with you on that day. And while we are talking about it, don’t forget those you love on their special days. Everyone should have their own holiday.

Walk With a Servant