“Tonight We are young —Fun. It’s 7 a.m. on any given weekday, and the regular crowd shuffles in. No one asks where to sit; it’s been settled by habit over the years. I’m at the retirement facility in Lubbock, TX, where my mom and dad live. And on this day, I join my dad’s breakfast …
She lowered her eyes as if she were too ashamed to look at me. Her quivering voice revealed the emotional pain she was experiencing: “Pastor, what those people are saying about me just isn’t true.” The sad part was that “those people” were from the Christian community, the family of God, the people called to …
I arrived before daybreak at the Abbey of Gethsemani, unaware that the day I had chosen as a personal day of prayer and reflection happened to be the Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi, and for me that made the day all the more special, for St. Francis is one of my favorite religious …
Some people are gifted with beautiful solo voices to bless an audience; other singers, perhaps not quite as vocally talented, bless others with quartet voices; then there are those that bless others by not singing. I’ve always thought of myself as being in that latter category. But that’s changed of late. Let me back up. …
There’s a surprising grace that falls our way whenever someone unexpectedly sings a beautiful song. It was a Susan Boyle moment whenever Angela Hockensmith began her solo in our church one Sunday morning. I could sense people looking wide eyed at each other. Like me, they were silently saying, “I didn’t know she could sing …