MOULTRIE, Ga. — I may have a habit of reading between the lines too much. I guess it comes from being a newsman most of my adult life. I think I was born skeptical or even cynical and then had a relapse.

Actually it goes back to my early childhood. When my dad and I would go fishing down on the Ochlocknee River, he would get me up before day. We would eat breakfast and take off. The truck would already have been loaded with our  fishing gear the night before. If my dad said we were going fishing at 5 a.m., he meant you could see the taillights on the truck as we pulled out of the front yard at 5 a.m.

Then we would get to the river and wait for enough light to launch the boat.

So I asked my dad, “Why did we have to get up so early?”

And he said, “The early bird gets the worm.”

I countered, “But there were people fishing here yesterday.”

Well my dad was not one to waste daylight. And he didn’t mind me being so inquisitive and even challenging. I did notice later on that we started going fishing more in the afternoons.

But we could not go fishing on Sunday. Of course I asked why because I could not find anywhere in the Bible that instructed us otherwise. We were allowed to go swimming on Sunday, but no fishing. I did not see the logic.

And strangely it was okay to sit on the front porch after Sunday dinner and gossip a while. And I could find references in the Bible that suggested this was wrong.

Through many years of reading the Bible I wanted more explanation to some of the scriptures. Given that those were not times of mass communications, I often wondered who was taking down notes. Again, I got that habit of reading between the lines and wondering what else was going on.

For instance, when Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem right before His crucifixion and he sent a couple of his followers into town to fetch Him a donkey, why was it important that we are told it was an unbroken colt? (Gospel of Mark)

I know from childhood experiences, that riding a young unbroken donkey is rather difficult. Those little creatures can kick you into the next county. So was that also a miracle being performed?

I was down in St. Augustine, Fla., at a museum where they had a presentation on Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the Americas. So I pointed out to the narrator that on his first voyage, basically all he did was sail west until he ran into another continent. My question was, how long did it take to sail back and find that same location? There was no GPS. The narrator didn’t really have an answer for me but agreed it was a legitimate question in the venue of logistics and that perhaps there was detailed documentation on his subsequent journeys somewhere. I think he just wanted me to go look at some Spanish swords on display and let him go to lunch.

So I was watching an old movie the other night and someone offered the Gaelic blessing, “May the road rise up to meet you.”

What the heck does that mean? I had heard it many times but this was the first time I had dwelled upon it.

Sounds like you would be walking uphill all the time or maybe you just left a party on foot and you hit the clay path with your face along the way. Just too many questions and too little time!

(Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 985-4545. Email: dwain.walden@gaflnew.s.com)