This recent mass shooting is a tragedy. The next mass shooting will be a tragedy. We are sad now, and we’ll be sad the next time. Then we’ll be sad the next mass shooting after the next mass shooting. Then all of these deaths will be in vain. Their lives and deaths will have meant nothing. And then others will die, too. We know the future, because we know the past. The babies died in vain. Charlotte Bacon, 6 Daniel... Read more
When Muhammad Ali is laid to rest Friday, it will be in Cave Hill Cemetery, in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. At nearly 300 acres, it’s the largest cemetery in Louisville. My mother learned to drive on the narrow, isolated roads. Both of her parents are buried there. Dedicated in 1848, the cemetery retains the lush landscaping of the Victorian era. Both Confederate and Union solders are there, divided in life, but united again in death. The cemetery was integrated... Read more
Last week a child fell into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati zoo, and a gorilla had to be killed. Suddenly the country was filled with zoologists, parenting experts, and people who evidently would feel comfortable with their child in the care of a 450 pound male silverback gorilla. I watched an unedited news conference of the zoo official explaining the circumstances. (As a communications expert I have a professional interest in watching such interviews.) My first thought was that if... Read more
When I shared this on Facebook recently, this was one of the comments: “There were years when this was true for me – why that stopped is beyond me.” Considering a response, I was reminded of a poem by William Wordsworth: The World Is Too Much With Us The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away,... Read more
(Another in my series chronicling my possible return to vocational ministry.) There’s a church nearby seeking a minister. In the search description, they’re looking for someone who: “Preaches a balance approach to salvation – both Heaven and Hell – it’s all about eternity.” Many live in a personal hell they never speak of. We live in a broken world that falls short of the Divine. Why would I drag that world into a place people go to escape it for... Read more
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” — Acts 2. Read more
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