Scott Skillman

Scott Skillman is president of UHC Terre Haute.

The best miracles could be the ones we make ourselves, every day of the year

By Scott Skillman
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December is a month steeped in the stories and expectations of miracles.

Across different faiths and cultures, this season is the time when we remember powerful acts of divine intervention, from the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days during Hanukkah to the Christian belief in the miraculous birth of Jesus.

These ancient stories serve as anchors, reminding us of the extraordinary ways the divine intersects with the ordinary world.

But miracles are not just events locked in history books. They happen every day, often hiding in plain sight, waiting for us to open our eyes and our hearts to recognize them.

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Cicely, Alaska, is not the end of the journey

By Scott Skillman
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I’d like to discuss a television show that I loved watching in the mid ’90s.

No, I’m not talking about Baywatch. My favorite show was Northern Exposure.

The show is a basic fish-out-of-water tale. The main character is a Jewish New York doctor who upon completion of his medical training is set to begin a carefully planned career that would include the location of his practice, his area of expertise and even his “choice” Jewish fiance.

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The Passover seder dinner means matzoh, wine, bitter herbs and the miracle of the shared meal

By Scott Skillman
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This year our Passover seder will be celebrated on Saturday, April 12, starting at 6 p.m. We will be led by our rabbi, Jennifer Lewis, and we will have a full seder meal. We will drink the wine; we will break the matzot and eat the bitter herbs.

We will celebrate while reclining (at least symbolically) the Exodus from Egypt and the miracles performed at that time, at that place. Those miracles are well retold in the seder, and the awesomeness of the Lord will be recounted.

But there is another miracle that arises from the seder that is not often considered. The miracle that I wish for us to consider is the sharing of a meal within our small community and, often, with the larger community. The miracle I speak of is the shared meal. The sharing of a meal has great power for all who attend.

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Truth for our time: Trust sound reasoning — that feeling in your gut might just be gas

By Scott Skillman
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It is generally agreed that truth is a good thing to pursue.

Truth is used to provide rationale for policy. Arguably, truth is the basis for laws, governance, and general rules for everything from corporate policies to Temple by-laws.

Mark Twain popularized the quote, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” This rather obviously warns that facts and statistics can be used to push for actions that are not virtuous, but preferred. In more modern times, the concept of “truthiness” has been used to describe the distinction between facts as they are versus facts as we want them to be.

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