I want to go on record. I hate details. I am hosting over 100 police chaplains, instructors, and spouses for a four day training conference in Granbury. We are running three tracks concurrently for those seeking basic certification along with veteran chaplains in need of advanced training or just some helpful enrichment. It is a huge job. I am thankful to have several partners that have worked as hard, as or harder than I have to get ready for this…
Being transparent with another human being entails a risk of substantial proportion. Sharing our story with another person automatically involves some degree of emotional peril. I think such a reality is one of the reasons that Henri Nouwen urges us to limit the access to our interior life. He compares such access to a drawbridge attached to a medieval castle. He says: It is important for you to control your own drawbridge. There must be times that you keep your…
Donuts have to be among the unhealthiest foods that you can eat. The combination of sugar and fat and other poisons that we enjoy so much are packed into one little piece of scrumptious pastry with a hole in the middle. Doctors tell us to avoid excessive white flour, sugar, and bad fats. The older we get the more important such principles of good dieting come into play. I saw a notable exception to such guidelines last week. While I…
I have always thought I was a good friend. In fact, I have always thought I had some kind of grasp on what loyalty looks, feels, and smells like. But during the course of the past 6 months, I have reached the conclusion that I only play in the minor leagues of friendship. In order to fully explain this startling conclusion, I must go back to Wind Point Elementary School in Racine, Wisconsin. There were a group of boys that…
I have heard of toxic wastes, and have seen the results of it here on Lake Granbury. I have also heard of toxins in our body and the potential effects. In fact, I have even heard of toxic people before! But today it occurred to me that the word can be used in a very different way. I grew up around toxic influences. I suspect a lot of us did. My dad had a man working for him that I…
“We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have – for their usefulness.” -Thomas Merton The question has changed. And it is has changed significantly. At one time, people would say: What can you do for me? That sounds pretty selfish, does it not? It does not even come close to the…
I don’t recall ever having any serious discussions about future career plans with my friends when I was in high school. I do recall joking around that I was going to be a billionaire and live on a yacht. That thought of course remained a joke. And I also distinctly remember standing behind a podium in the speech and debate classroom and mimicking a preacher. My friends called me “Brother John.” The content of my so called “sermons” was beyond…
Laura Kaeppeler, Miss Wisconsin, was crowned Miss America last night. I don’t make it an annual habit of watching the Miss America pageant. But Laura’s crowing caught my attention for two reasons. She is from Kenosha, Wisconsin. I lived in Racine just 19 miles north of Kenosha from 1969-1975. And…I was intrigued by her platform at the pageant. Her platform focused on children of incarcerated adults. Her father was sentenced to a federal penitentiary on mail fraud charges, as she was getting…
Nobody has been blessed with good mentors and coaches to the extent that I have. I have worked with some incredibly talented and patient professionals over the years. My internship with Willard Tate at a little country church in Hamby in 1986 and 1987 was an experience I will never forget. Willard was a great role model. He was ahead of his time in a lot of ways. 8 years in Wichita Falls as an associate minister in two different…
Once upon a time teenagers passed notes to each other in church. There is no doubt in my mind that there are 60 year olds out there today who were chastised by their preacher from the pulpit for their use of this mode of written communication in a worship service. But that day is long past. Teens text message each other during church now. In fact, I suspect there could be a few adults using their smart phones for something…