American Thanksgiving has come and gone. We did what most Americans did – slept late, ate big, watched football on TV, took a nap, ate again, watched more football, thanked God for the blessings, and went to bed feeling full. All the while, more than 800 million people in the world did not have enough…
If I took time to list all the medical/dental issues I’ve had in the past two years, readers would get depressed and I’d go beyond my intent to share a one paragraph spiritual jump-start. Needless to say, it’s good that I retired so I’d have time for all my medical/dental appointments. The problem is I…
My mother used to worry about me since I exhibited zero musical skills. She actually bought me a trombone and hired a teacher. He showed me the positions on the slide and the sound each made, then quit during the second lesson, when I played “Whispering Hope” by ear. I sang in the church’s Youth…
I’ve had a long-time food love affair, with authentic Mexican beef Tacos. More recently, I’ve started liking Fish Tacos. High on my non-love affair food list is cabbage. In fact, I only eat cabbage with corn beef. Recently I was in a restaurant where I saw West Coast Fish Tacos on the menu. Being a…
Last week-end was Día de Muertos. I first encountered this Day of the Dead when we lived on the Mexican border, and later encountered it on a visit to Spain on this same November day. It is now practiced around the world in many cultures, often for a three-day holiday, October 31- November 2. On…
Lately, I’ve seen an interesting quote circulating. “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank you, that would suffice.” Is that true? How does one reconcile this idea of only saying thank you, with Jesus’ comment to Peter, “I have prayed for you” (Luke 22:32), Paul’s frequent reminder to those to…
Last week, on Canadian Thanksgiving, I wrote of my gratitude for former students who serve in Canada, in part because of my involvement in their lives and I said, “Sometimes one person’s passion enlightens another’s call.” Let me elaborate. In my pre-teens and early teen-age years I was a member of a very progressive church,…
On Thursday, January 31, 1957, the Parliament of Canada proclaimed: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.” So, today is Canadian Thanksgiving. My sixth grade teacher assigned us a paragraph on what we wanted…
When the team wins, the players get the credit, when they lose, the coach gets fired. That’s the way it is in the sports world. Unfortunately, that attitude spills over into churches. I’ve known of far too many friends, former students, acquaintances, who were terminated (or sometimes, simply encouraged to leave), not because they misinterpreted…
The quote hung on my wall as a teen-ager. I would not know much about the author until Seminary days when his name was prominent on reading lists. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference,”…