Ken Frantz

Uniontown

Columnist at South Platte Sentinel

Columnist at Sterling Journal-Advocate

Physical Therapist. Go Steelers, Pirates, Penguins and Penn State.

Featured in: Favicon

southplattesentinel.com Favicon

mercurynews.com Favicon

eastbaytimes.com Favicon

hfherald.com Favicon

darkreading.com Favicon

newsbreak.com Favicon

journal-advocate.com

Articles

A little more compassion, please

1 week ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

What we could use more of these days is compassion. Not the run-of-the-mill kind, but the kind that is transformative of the human experience, the variety that challenges boundaries, and the one that does more than rescue cats stuck in trees or assists people crossing a busy street. It is unfiltered compassion that Christ noted […] Subscribe to continue reading this article. Originally Published: May 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM MDT
Keeping it all in balance

2 weeks ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

We have finally reached the long-sought-after conflagration of events having little to do with the liturgical cycle, but everything to do with professional sports. Having recently crowned collegiate championship basketball teams, we are now deep into playoffs for professional hockey and basketball. At the same moment, baseball is in full swing as we move toward […] Subscribe to continue reading this article. Originally Published: April 28, 2025 at 9:04 AM MDT
Making it to the other side of Easter

3 weeks ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

So, we have made it to the other side of Easter, some of us unscathed and others of us simply over it and ready to move on. That is not intended to sound dismissive but rather to glimpse the reality of combining religious and secular occasions into holiday celebrations. When is Easter observed? Simple. It is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Asking the right question

1 month ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

In the Gospel of Matthew is found the wonderfully posed question from Jesus to Peter, “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter responds unequivocally, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:15-16, MSG).” According to Jesus, such knowledge is divinely revealed to Peter, upon whom the church will be founded. Pretty heady stuff for a fisherman/follower of Christ. This is scripture in which many find comfort.
Re-writing the parables

1 month ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

Some of the most impactful short stories come to us in the form of parables. Pithy, challenging, durable, and relentless, they encourage us to consider different ways of living and loving and being in a world gone mad. Timeless and enduring, the parables of Jesus, especially in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), can be challenging and inspiring. They include stories and lessons regarding lost coins, sheep, displaced family members, charity, love, fairness, intellect, and forgiveness.
Mad as a March hare

1 month ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

It is dangerous at times to use idioms or phrases that come to us from the cultural sphere we inherited. It always surprises me to chance upon a word or saying that makes perfect sense in my mind but that garners a blank stare from the listener in return. Such was the case of a younger family member getting tickled over my suggestion that a certain group of young kids were wilder than March hares. Of course, everyone knows about March hares, don’t they?
Finding the proper attitude

1 month ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

In the long slow scheme of things, seldom do we uncover a word or phrase that we immediately adopt as being formulated perfectly for who we are: the perfect fit of a glove, the right word in the right moment, the delightful discovery of the perfect dessert that no one else wants. Is it just for me? Truly? It’s enough to make one feel that they have gotten away with something. At least that was my working theory until we began anew on finishing the trim work in an office and living area.
The more things change, the more they stay the same

2 months ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

We have been here before, political uncertainties clouding the horizon and raising concerns for up-and-coming generations. The towering egos in play are formidable, to say the least, grooming the public to believe all is broken and that Christian nationalism is the key to applying a fix. Practiced and particularly egregious are faith groups in the […] Subscribe to continue reading this article. Originally Published: March 10, 2025 at 8:33 AM MDT
ChatGPT and I

2 months ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

An interesting demonstration regarding AI, ChatGPT, and a simple inquiry was raised during a small group discussion on a recent Sunday morning. The emergence of AI, and the speed at which it is evolving, is startling in many respects and somewhat intimidating for many of us. We thought demonstrating its use in our own group […] Subscribe to continue reading this article. Originally Published: March 3, 2025 at 10:58 AM MST
Going slow in order to go fast

2 months ago | journal-advocate.com | Ken Frantz

Straight from a bit of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage comes the phrase, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” My maternal grandmother was fluent in Pennsylvania Dutch but was said to eschew its use in order to avoid being cast as the ‘other’ in the new world politics of the early 1900s. Perhaps five-year-olds were wiser than we imagined our ancestors to be. As in other agrarian economies, time was measured by seasonal demands of tending to crop cycles and the care of livestock.