As a small child, I can remember his towering figure, his energetic personality and Irish blue eyes that would light up every time we as his grandchildren would enter into his home. My grandfather, who would run with us in the playground, take us fishing and pretend to eat the worms we were using as … [Read more…]
Last year, I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Il. While I have studied a great deal about Lincoln, I found myself really taken back about the struggles which Lincoln, a simple country lawyer from Illinois, faced immediately after taking office on March 4, 1861. From a country deeply divided over … [Read more…]
Lying in a hospital bed, he looked at me sitting across from him. With a pale and sunken face, white hair and dark pupils, he looked at me with confusion even though I softly explained who I was and what I was doing in his room. “Tell…her…I…am…sorry,” he said while gasping for breath. “She needs … [Read more…]
Stepping into my father’s bathroom during a trip home from college, I could not help but notice the tacky blue walls and the ceramic fish that hung off of them. In a way, it resembled a questionable seafood restaurant you would find along the Florida interstate. But at the same time, the particle board walls poorly painted … [Read more…]
In the hall is where I would find her. Sometimes she would be moping the floor, other times helping fold sheets or pushing a cart of dirty laundry. Yet, whatever the task she was doing, she would always be talking with the other hospital workers ranging from the hospital administrators to those who worked in … [Read more…]
As a child, visiting my grandparents on Christmas Day was special to me. While my grandfather never had many memories of celebrating Christmas as a boy since he grew up in various foster homes, he found ways to make the season joyful for his grandchildren. From the lights decorated on his small home in the … [Read more…]
It was one of the most difficult decisions I had to ever make. After spending a year struggling in the ordination process to become a Presbyterian minister, I came to the conclusion that while I still felt called to be a minister, it wasn’t going to be in the denomination where I had been raised … [Read more…]
Last spring, members of my church spent a day volunteering to help build a house for “Habitat For Humanity” in our town. Given hammers, nails, tape measures, and saws, our church was specifically tasked with installing a kitchen floor in the home we were building. While I like to think I am good at carpentry … [Read more…]
Last week, I found myself working an early morning shift at a local store where I work part time two days a week. During my shift while the store was still closed, I was at the front counter organizing order forms while talking with two of my co-workers. The one co-worker is a young African-American … [Read more…]
Standing in front of me, I could see my face in the reflection of his aviator sunglasses. Even though we shared the same height, his muscular physique and intimidating posture was enough for me to shake in my poorly laced boots. “Your boot laces are a mess, Lieutenant!” he shouted in a deep voice with … [Read more…]