On winding mountain roads, I need to be the driver; I get too queasy as a passenger. I have memories of long car trips with my family when the windows had to be rolled down for lots of fresh air in my face. Frequent stops to stretch in the open air were helpful. These days, I prefer to be th…
He wrote short stories for magazines but had an idea for a novel. He wrote a few pages and trashed it when growing weary with it.
As a young high school “Jesus freak,” I grew my hair long. Dad didn’t like that. One day when he was needling me about it, I pointed toward a picture on the wall of my room. “What about Him?” I argued. “Who?,” Dad asked with irritation. Still…
I attended a hobby club meeting in Georgia lately and enjoyed a beautiful weekend. We political items collectors/historians are a unique bunch, though I suppose this is true of every collector and every hobby since I’ve known some who collect…
We received one of those mailers. You know the kind. Selling a product with caps, exclamations and superlatives. Another “Buy This Now!” sort of advertisement. As frequently happens, this one was addressed to my deceased mother-in-law, so the…
I don’t often get to visit other churches on Sundays, but did so recently. I’d heard the pastor had two more weeks of service, but it turned out that particular Sunday was the final one. She (yes, unusual for a Baptist church) said it with a …
In a column published last year, David Brooks describes his movement over time from agnosticism to religious faith (“The Shock of Faith: It’s Nothing Like I Thought it would Be,” NYT, December 19, 2024).
Wallace Community College Selma (WCCS) will host a free disaster training for clergy and lay leaders by Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Support Training (MESS) on Oct. 7-9.
The late Clayton Sullivan wrote about Mrs. Howard, a widow, and her adult son, Johnny Fred. Johnny Fred’s body was twisted like a gnarled tree. He was cognitively challenged, slurred his speech and could only sell peanuts on the street corner to make a little money.
Grab your broom, we have some things to clean up and clear up. Mostly the myths and magical thinking in our minds. Maybe a few “spiritual steps” to clear of debris. I once heard a church musician say now and then we all need a little “brainwashing”—washing out our brains. When it comes to th…
Growing up with a large extended family of both blood and belief (home and church), gatherings were often a smorgasbord of experiences.
A college colleague told me about a tense Sunday morning when he was a part-time pastor. The deacon chairman confronted him before worship with a stern request (the Baptist deacon chairman is akin to a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army).
After presenting my views on freethinking at a gathering in South Carolina, one petite elderly lady approached me with an unhappy look on her face: “Do you believe in the afterlife?” she asked.
It’s a Facebook page for denominational pastors, and it was recommended to me by our student pastor. I’ve since offered it to several others, telling them it will entertain or make you angry.
I last talked with him in June after my wife asked, “Who do you want to do your funeral?”
A photo of yet another football team kneeling for prayer on the gridiron got me thinking again about “showy faith.” I couldn’t tell if these were Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist players … just kidding. When we see a team kneeling in a circle, we k…
A newspaper column, perhaps especially one that centers on religion and secularism, invites a variety of responses. One response might be to ignore it. Another is to read and let it go. Another might be to think about the ideas or questions r…
“Our flag was still there” after the British assault on Ft. McHenry in 1814. Now there’s a different assault. Some protest the American flag in the worship place, decrying “Christian nationalism.”
Our denominational publishing house contacted me last year after a writer had to drop out of an assignment. The editor asked if I could write guidelines for teachers to go along with the curriculum. Since the three lessons were from the Gospe…
As a youthful evangelical (and aspiring evangelist), I loved to try to convert others with clever buttons and bumperstickers.
George W. Bush famously said, “When I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish.”
The world is full of scriptures.
It was a number of years ago when I was in the book signing line to meet former first lady Laura Bush.
