His name was Art Wright, and he was not only known as the town drunk, he was also one of the most despised men in town. His wife was hostess to the women’s organization of the Baptist church and Art spiked the punch. The ladies seemed to think the punch was especially good and the story ended with Art driving some of them home in an open top touring car and dragging main street so the citizens could enjoy the view. That story was still alive when I was a teen.
Read MoreI was teaching a class of older teenagers at an Oklahoma youth camp named Falls Creek. In a class of about fifty, one person captured my attention without saying a word and I could not get her off my mind. She sat in the middle of the back row with ‘’deer in the headlights” eyes full of fear and pain. I never got a chance to speak to her after class, but I kept seeing her eyes in my mind. What kinds of fears were haunting her life? What threats did she face?
Read MoreI attended a city-wide memorial service at the First Baptist church in Tulsa a few days after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. Perhaps I went for the right reason but with the wrong attitude. I was proud of myself for being there with my black arm band showing respect for a man and supporting a people who had lost their Moses and perhaps their dream of equity and freedom. I did not see my own arrogance that hid me
Read MoreOf all the stories in this series this may well be the one that made the greatest difference in my life.
In the mid-nineteen sixties I was asked to speak for a religious focus week at a college in Oklahoma. I am not sure these kinds of things are still done on State campuses, but they were done quite often at that time. The format was for me to speak in a chapel type of service each day and then speak in a class or so if the professor requested me to do so. The big event was what they called “Buzz Sessions” in the dorms at night. A pastor and a lay person would be available for the students to ask questions.
Read MoreWhen I was a young man, the preachers would often talk about finding God’s will for our lives. I found that to be beyond my comprehension. I had no idea who I was, so how could I even begin to know what I was supposed to be or do with my life. I am not sure I ever solved that riddle. I seemed to just stumble into my life and careers and somehow ended up doing work I could never have dreamed of until I was doing it.
Read MoreI have spent over sixty-five years maintaining a fairly heavy load of what some call counseling and I call companioning people. This has been my greatest joy and most significant part of my life. Nothing else comes close. Someone said to me “you must really love people doing all of your counseling and never charging anyone a fee.” I said, “I do love them, but I am also nosey, and I love to hear the stories.” Actually, most of my education about life and people has come from the stories they tell. Now I want to share this joy with others.
Read MoreI did a very brave act yesterday. I did not climb the Devon Tower or anything like that, but I did go for a walk and leave my phone at home on purpose.
My daughter seemed to be more upset about that than I was. She said a left behind phone is something you go back to get and remarked that it felt strange. I thought it felt wonderfully freeing.
That led to my thinking about the role the phone has always played in my life.
Read MoreToday is September 25. My wife of fifty-seven years died twelve years ago today. I think of her all the time of course but in September each year the memories flood my mind. These memories are usually not just about her death, they relive our life together and rejoice in the love we shared. Those thoughts reenforce three things I have found true about grief.
First: It never goes away, our loved ones live on in our memories. No one is dead until they are forgotten.
Second: Hopefully in time gratitude replaces some of the pain. We either become grateful for what we had, or we will remain a victim of what we have lost.
Read More“Democracy is like sex
when it is good it is very, very good.
When it is bad, it ain’t all that bad.”
—David Frost.
A dear friend of mine has terminal cancer that is progressing quite rapidly. Until recently he and I made contact on Zoom three times a week, so his journey has been very real and well documented to me. He has been in Hospice care for some time even though he had no symptoms until recently. Hospice is now available to us when we have a diagnosis of terminal illness not just when we are in the act of dying.
Read MoreThe Bible records a meeting of the disciples of Jesus after his resurrection and ascension. The first order of business was the election of someone to take the place of Judas who had betrayed Christ and was dead. The role of apostle had one major requirement: it had to be held by a witness to the resurrection. Two men were qualified for the post and a vote was taken. However, there was another person in the room that was even more qualified for the office. Mary Magdalene was chosen by Jesus to be the first person to see Him, and He sent her to tell the others. So much for women being quiet in church. It is evident she had been an important part of His entourage and a close friend to Him. She would have been the natural choice, but she was a woman and therefore not even considered.
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