Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. –Helen Keller I intended to write and tell you about the recent trip but I fear I am worn slap out. Hope you are doing well. Tomorrow. I promise. Read more
I have been on the road — I’ll tell you more about that in another post — and as in the case when I travel, access to news is limited. When I heard about the explosions in Boston, I contacted my friends Charlie and Ann, who live there. Charlie assured me that they were okay. He was, in fact, flying back from D.C. My daughter Ashley, who was also traveling with me, contacted her husband, who works at a running... Read more
We were supposed to have coffee this morning, me and Bob. We planned it before I left Oregon. He’d sent me a note when he heard I was going to be in Navarre. I might never have known about Navarre, might never have spent much time in this wonderful community except for Bob. He’d read my books, told then Pastor Dan Morris about them. And so they invited me to Navarre, a couple of years ago, as the featured... Read more
A dozen years ago, I was traveling through a familiar town in the south when I saw a boy not yet ten trying to dart across a busy four-lane. It was mid-morning on a school day. I had no idea why he wasn’t in school but I was worried he was going to get himself killed. So I stopped and asked where he was headed. He said he was trying to get home because his teacher had kicked him... Read more
The pastor called it. “A resurrection wedding,” she said. Her remark wasn’t solely a commentary on the ages of the couple marrying – both in the sixites — but on the fact that this man and this woman had been through the grief of losing a beloved spouse prior. It’s just hard, hard, hard to go it alone after you’ve lost your first love. To bear the title of widow or widower. Sitting in the pew at the United... Read more
Before his passing Roger Ebert wrote a lovely goodbye essay, I do not fear death, that ran at SALON. Here’s a glimpse of what he said: I have no desire to live forever. The concept frightens me. I am 69, have had cancer, will die sooner than most of those reading this. That is in the nature of things. In my plans for life after death, I say, again with Whitman: I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from... Read more
Editor’s Note: One of the best things about attending Kathy Patrick’s Girlfriend Weekend in Jefferson, Texas is the opportunity I get to meet some pretty fabulous writers. If it seems like we writers are always plugging other writers, it’s because we love reading good books at much as you do. I heard New York Times bestselling author Leila Meacham speak on a panel and I just knew I had to share her back-story with you. It’s such a remarkable story.... Read more
I just don’t get it. It isn’t like technology is a new thing. We’ve been on camera since 7-Eleven put in Slurpee machines. Somebody is filming you most everywhere you go nowadays. Everybody has a smart phone. If you haven’t figured it out by now, if you act up, chances are you will be an overnight sensation on You Tube. For all the wrong reasons. Which makes former Rutgers Coach Mike Rice’s behavior all the more mind-boggling. How is it an... Read more
(Editor’s Note: Rachel Held Evans recently opened up her blog to an in-depth look at abuses within the church. Her posts are all worthy reads and I hope you’ll make time to read them, especially if you are in church leadership. There is also plenty of abuse taking place outside the church, and not all abuse is sexual in nature. Our guest blogger wrote to me last year after reading A Silence of Mockingbirds, to tell me how much Karly’s... Read more
What if I told you I believe in Jesus BUT I don’t believe in the laying on of hands for raising up the dead or miracles of any sort Would you think me a woman of faith? What if I told you I believe in Jesus BUT I don’t believe praying will heal breast cancer a broken arm or a brain tumor Would you think me a woman of faith? What if I told you... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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