Emphasis Preaching Journal

Could Thomas have been from the "Show-Me" state? Legend has it that in 1899 at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."

For Missourians, "Show-Me" is not in the least derogatory. Rather it portrays to the world that they are a people who, thanks to a desire to know the facts, are not easily duped. Perhaps we should allow Thomas the same latitude.