MOULTRIE, Ga. — I’m not a world traveler, but apparently my columns are. I was doing a search recently and found one of my muses from a few years back in The Ethio Sun. That’s a newspaper in Ethiopia. So since I’m sort of international now, I thought I would reprint it.

Here goes:

In my opinion, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel are two of the best selections on my cable. They make me wonder about stuff.

Like last night I watched some fellow search for the lost “Ark of the Covenant.” Now I know a lot of folks think that Indiana Jones had already discovered the Ark, but that’s not quite so.

This guy didn’t wear a leather jacket and felt hat, and he didn’t carry a bullwhip for no particular reason. He was just a regular guy in khakis and blue denim shirt with a journalism degree. His search led him to a “temple” in Ethiopia where a weird looking little fellow behind a locked iron rail fence supposedly guarded the Ark. Well, of course, he wouldn’t let this guy see it. Some people believe there’s power in secrets.

I’ve often wondered if the Ark might be resting beneath the floor of some shop in Turkey where they sell used bicycles and pomegranates. One day a plumber is in the cellar and pries open the lid of some strange looking box. He gazes upon tablets written in Hebrew (I’m assuming God was speaking Hebrew to Moses that day). And when he gets to that part about “not bearing false witness,” he remembers he was summoned for jury duty. He slams the lid shut and rushes off to the courthouse, never to give the box a second thought.

These two channels often give us more mystery than fact. So much has happened in our world’s history that wasn’t recorded and documented. Remember, this was before cell phones with cameras. This was before “Twitter” and Facebook.

A lot of things that might seem very insignificant were not recorded. For instance, the entire Holy Bible is only a few hundred pages covering thousands of years. Meanwhile, the Obama health plan alone is 2,000 pages covering only a few months of compilation.

Did any of the 12 disciples have nicknames. “Hey Bart, your net has a hole in it.” And did the disciples every crack jokes? “Hey Bart! A Jew, a Baptist and a Muslim go into a bar. Who orders wine? Who orders wine and calls it grape juice? And who blows up the bar?”

In the secular world, I wonder if anyone ever referred to William Shakespeare as just “Billy?” Or did anyone call him “Shakey?” And would our perception of his famous plays be different if they were written by a guy named “Shakey?”

And who decided that Abe Lincoln’s hat should be so tall? It’s not like he needed this height advantage to get on the really cool rides at an amusement park. What was the purpose of a stove pipe hat? But then if someone tried to shoot your hat off your head, your odds of survival increased exponentially over those of a derby hat.

Who was the first person to yell “Geronimo!” when he jumped from an airplane? And what would Geronimo have yelled? “John Wayne?!”

What if Sitting Bull’s warriors had been equipped with a few AK47’s and a couple of Howitzers. Chances are, we would have fewer leaky roofs. The Sioux figured out very early on that the higher you pitch a roof, the better the rain pours off. No flat roofs.

Yep, these two channels make me wonder about a lot of stuff.

Did Colonel Sanders really have a secret recipe, or did he just fry his chicken and start a rumor?

(Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)