“Baptists don’t baptize infants,” I heard some say not long ago, “they ordain them.” In the spring of 1977, in the summer after my junior year in college, I was called as pastor of Pecan Grove Baptist Church near Gatesville, Texas, which meant I needed to be ordained. In early June, an ordination council was…
A little over a month ago, my friend Billy sent me a link to a talk given by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, who spoke at the TED Conference, which I had never heard of before but evidently involves a whole bunch of really smart people. The folks at TED want to get good…
Crash Davis couldn’t do anything but play baseball.With a name like that, what else could he do?Quick – name all the baseball players you knownamed Milton. (You get my point, I’m sure.) Twenty years after Crash and company graced thesilver screen, I stood on the deck above the first basegrandstand in the house that the…
I love live music. I love being in the room for those one of a kind moments that can’t be replicated. I saw Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Buddy Miller a few summers ago on their “Sweet Harmony Musical Revue” tour. The evening was full of amazing things, but the hallmark…
We wrapped up Pentecost by watching the Red Sox game with friends. At one point, the commentators took time to talk about how quickly a batter has to decide whether or not to swing at a pitch. They showed the action in super slow motion, with a digital clock in one corner of the screen….
It was a perfect night. The four of us sat around the iron table on the patio of La Hacienda and shared an evening filled with wonderful Mexican food, frozen margaritas, friendship, laughter, and stories – all a part of our celebration of Ginger’s birthday. It was not the only food of the day. During…
They gave these to us as we left the polling station — ain’t that America . . . Peace,Milton
It’s late and I’m restless. After the two deaths last week at our church here in Durham, word came that one of the dearest souls in the Marshfield church died unexpectedly. Grief, like my depression, sends me searching for songs in the middle of the night, mostly looking for old friends to comfort me. I…
In the quiver of lies called depression,the name of the sharpest arrow isYou Have Nothing To Say. Forgetwhat the flowers told you, or the giftfrom the little one in front of you atthe drive through when she smiled. How can you give voice to the joy ofa snuggling Schnauzer, or speak tothe grief that rises…
I went to work at five this morning so I could leave early to get to a funeral. A dear soul in our church, Bryant, who was, as his son said, both a gentle man and a gentleman died last Friday. Ginger said the family had asked for someone to sing “In the Garden,” which…