Rev. Billy Graham has come out and essentially endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Not long afterwards, statements calling Mormonism a cult were removed from Graham’s organizational website. Next thing you know breaking headlines are going to announce that we are all God’s children, Mormons and Muslims, alike. Who would have thunk it? I have the utmost respect for Billy Graham. Except when it comes to politics. That is where he and I part ways. Come to think of it, politics is... Read more
He didn’t know that we had spent an additional two hours waiting for the doctor, who was sidetracked by another patient at another hospital, likely another crisis. He didn’t know that prior to the doctor’s appointment, I’d sat in a wheelchair, a warm blanket covering me, yellow plugs in my ears, as I held onto my mother’s ankle and shouted over the reverberating drum of the MRI that she was doing great, that she’d be just fine, that she needed... Read more
In all the hub-bub of the political debates you may not have noticed that the American Library Association celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Banned Books week. Some Conservative Christians scoff at the notion of Banned Books. Books aren’t banned in this country, they contend, only challenged. The primary subject matters that raise the hackles of parents of Christian kids in public schools are witches and anything hinting at sexual content. I knew a girl whose father actually burned the Harry... Read more
Did you watch the debate? I was driving home from Seattle so had to listen to the first hour the old-fashioned way, via a radio. Radio seems to be the perfect medium for debates. Listeners can’t see the eye roll, the smug lift of the chin, the wry grin, the tightening of the jaw, the flashing smile, or the false pleasantries. On radio, all you get is what the candidates say. What I heard is Romney and Obama both... Read more
Back in my reporting days I did a story about miracles and the people who believe in them. A neighbor woman, who had been suffering from cancer, got a clean bill of health, an answer to prayer, she said. In preparation to write that story I interviewed her doctor. “This is no miracle,” he said. “The cancer will come back.” He was right about the cancer coming back. It did. My neighbor died from that cancer. But did that... Read more
My children tell me all the time and it is true — I am picky. Usually the kids say it this way, “I can’t believe you grew up in a trailer. You are so picky.” What they mean, of course, is that for someone who grew up on a beer budget I have cultivated an appetite for champagne. (Actually, I haven’t had that much champagne but I did on the beach in Da Nang a... Read more
It has taken far too long for the leaders of this nation to do the honorable thing but finally, a U.S. President has realized the error and is seeking to correct it. President Obama has issued a proclamation declaring today — this Sunday — Gold Star Family Day. Here’s part of what the proclamation says: As a grateful Nation honors our fallen service members, so do we honor the families who keep their memory burning bright. They are parents... Read more
When I was growing up in Georgia most all the properly-raised girls studied under Miss Mable Bailey, who ran a modeling and charm program because apparently models, as Tyra Banks and Iman have proven, aren’t born sweet. They have to work at being congenial, something I understand all too well. My girlfriend Sara’s sister Beth studied under Miss Mable Bailey. Sara may have as well, but when Mama tried to send me, I pitched a hissy & conniption fit, most... Read more
It’s been a very long time since I have felt this rejected. Perhaps even as far back as high school. Or maybe it was that day in college when my roommate announced before God and a roomful of others that she hated that her parents’ taxes helped me get through college. (I went on my father’s GI Bill, given that he was dead and wasn’t going to be using it.) Yes. That was definitely a new personal low. I... Read more
I‘m sitting in Starbucks, fighting back the tears and this time it has absolutely nothing to do with my mother’s failing health. These are tears for Whitney Kropp. Perhaps you heard about the high school sophmore from West Branch, Mich.. My friend Patti Callahan Henry shared the story with me. Seems Whitney was voted to the Homecoming Court by her classmates. She was elated until Whitney learned that the election was a Carrie-style prank. The boy elected along with her... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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