I sing a lot. I don’t mean I sing a lot publicly. Most of my singing is at odd times, private and alone...when I’m driving, during my private prayer time, even when I’m waiting for an appointment. According to the circumstance and where I am, I sing aloud. I...

Lewis Grizzard was a syndicated newspaper columnist, the author of a number of books, and a rather sophisticated writer who pretended  to be a redneck. He was brash, irreverent, and sometimes obscene. I often felt that he was laughing at something, such as, his...

Edith Sitwell said of William Blake, the great painter and poet, "Of course he was cracked. That's where the light shone through." I like that explanation! All of us are cracked somewhere, or we are not what we are cracked up to be. None of us are perfect and will...

I have recently become a reader of Bill Keane’s cartoon, Family Circus. It is modeled after the cartoonist’s own family—his wife Thelma, and their children, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and P.J. In a recent scene Billy issues, a huge AH-CHOO sneeze into the face of Dolly....

I decided recently that I should follow Bill Keane’s cartoon, Family Circus, more faithfully. So many profound lessons are couched in humor. Keane models the cartoon after his own family: Thelma, his wife,  and their children, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and P.J. The...

What ‘n the world are we coming to?  That’s the way Momma expressed her exasperation with all the things coming at her that she did not understand. Almost every day when I read the news, or watch television, or simply observe culture I’m feeling that sentiment. More...

We too quickly leave the reason for our celebrations behind. We must not do that on July 4. The tension and threatened disruption in Russia are an immediate reminder of who we say we are as a nation is as critical today as ever. When the founders of the United States...

Providentially, a few days ago I came across reflective words I had written years ago, following a visit to Estonia, what was then East Germany, and the German Democratic Republic. I was there in a more or less official capacity, so in  these  three countries, I was...

I believe there are two frames of reference out of which we tend to operate as Christians – either is debilitating to our Christian growth and service. One is a false humility that refuses to name and claim our gifts. The second is a confidence that claims too much...

I don’t know how it is with you, but I have a number of Scripture passages to which I refer off and on, sometimes out of need, sometimes reminded of it when I’m listening to something else. Recently I was listening to a sermon on the text, Do not think of yourself...