Yup. That’s me about 43 years and 15 pounds ago. At the time, I lived in Salzburg, Austria and on this particular day, some friends and I had gone for a walk and a picnic in the gardens surrounding the magnificent palace of Hellbrunn. Well, I’m back to that Salzburg weight, but not because of […]
Some years ago I had some time to take my camera and wander around the community of Denpasar on the island of Bali. As I walked along the shore, I spied the four girls in the photograph I’ve shared as they sat in the sea breeze, chatting and laughing, and evidently enjoying each other’s company […]
Would you like to bring “water” into this current, socially distanced desert we live in? Well, let me tell you about this picture. Some years ago I traveled to China with a medical team from Virginia. We had been invited by the Amity Foundation, the social development arm of the China Christian Council, to tour […]
Here at the UAB Support Team Network, we’ve begun a new lunch series. It’s called “Community is Medicine.” Isn’t that cool?! Now, you’re not only being invited to read these columns but you can come and get something tasty to eat, hobnob with others who feel called to make a difference in their community, and […]
Way back in the summer of 1992, I went to serve as the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Winchester, Virginia. That’s when I met the family of Butch and Eva Gates. The first day in my office, Eva called me and asked me to officiate at a marriage vow renewal service that […]
I saw petroglyphs in New Mexico last week. “Petroglyph” means “rock writing” and refers to art carved in volcanic stones lying about the desert hills just west of Albuquerque. According to the scientists who’ve studied the petroglyphs, Native Americans from the Pueblo nation produced those markings during a few centuries before and after 800, c.e. […]
While waiting in Atlanta for his flight to San Francisco, a colleague of mine, Vic Dippenaar, sat down in the waiting lounge to nurture patience in the pages of a book. He raised in front of his eyes David Richo’s book, How to Be an Adult, and began reviewing the chapters. Vic, the director of […]
Some years ago, I stood with a cousin of mine on a balmy June evening at the edge of a field on our late grandfather’s farm. It was about 10:00 p.m. and the field stretched away for nearly a mile to a distant tree line, visible as a dark jagged ribbon against a luminous night […]
I’ve been thinking lately about community and human connectivity. It’s becoming more and more dear to my heart as I see the divisive nature of our public discourse and the dismissive attitude so many have toward those whose lives differ from their own. Indeed, I realize I’m as guilty in these tendencies as any of […]
I learned this morning from a reader that Johnny Barnes passed away this year, at the age of 93 (see the first reply beneath the post). I was so inspired when I first heard about Mr. Barnes, that I thought I’d repost this particular blog entry from over a year ago. Here it is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ […]
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