From my perspective, today is a good day. The sun is shining, birds are twittering and I’m sitting beneath a beautiful, cloudless cerulean sky recalling words that my dear mother often quoted: “God’s in his Heaven. All’s right with the world.” — Robert Browning
Do you have problems remembering? We hear expressions like, “Where are my keys? I just had them a minute ago.” As humans, our capacity to remember (and forget) is fascinating and complex. We are not always able to maintain self-control over what we wish to recall.
CLOTHIER — It’s not merely a room to Tim Williams but a command center.
It was late July, 1933, when I was 8 years old. Dr. Welty was telling my mother, “Jean’s tonsils are very badly infected. My advice is for her to have her tonsils and adenoids removed now. They’ll only get worse and it would be best to have it done before school starts in early September. Sh…
HUNTINGTON — For a century and a half, countless people have walked in and out of Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church.
A few weeks ago, a good friend, who lives in another state and shares my love for fall, sent me a message. It read: “One of the tell-tale signs that fall is approaching here is the sound of crickets chirping at night. I’ve heard them the past two nights. Fall is just around the corner,”
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Friday nights in Charleston have remained largely quiet as traditional summer events like Live on the Levee, Multifest, and the Rod Run and Doo Wop were canceled.
We were blessed with a beautiful 82-degree day today. Although I had things to do, I couldn’t resist taking a short walk in my neighborhood. It’s amazing what one can learn on one of these walks. I encountered five people and two dogs along the way and I don’t mind telling you, the dogs were…
My private care doctor had a request to make of me, and I said I’d do it if I can. He wanted me to send a farewell message to the readers of my column that I wrote for years in The Charleston Gazette and Gazette-Mail.
Prejudice has so often been an obstacle to progress. How many people do you know who live within the tight walls of prejudice?
My niece lost her father this morning. He was very sick and even though the family expected it, she still said, “There just aren’t any words to describe the pain.”
It took me a long while to realize that stress can make you ill. I had to experience it first-hand, and it wasn’t easy.
A number of years ago, I had a funeral for two teenagers who were killed in an automobile accident. Needless to say, there were two families devastated by those deaths. I cannot imagine the loss of a child. We understand the devastation and loss these families felt.
Some say grief is the price we pay for love. If this is true, why do we choose to love so freely? Why invite such pain?
Have you noticed how much time and money people in our society invest in the pursuit of those things which promise happiness, satisfaction and a good feeling about themselves?
Imagine a time, if you will, when there was no air conditioning anywhere with one exception, and that was the movie theaters in town. Cars didn’t have A/C either. If you lived in the ’50s, as I did, the only source of coolness (and I use that term loosely) was an oscillating fan. Houses coul…
As I get older, time seems to vanish like a fleeting dream and memories of childhood days at my grandparents’ house in the coal fields of Southern West Virginia become more treasured than ever.
The apostle Paul wrote: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians…
It’s been said that life is like a big slice of watermelon: though sweet and succulent, it contains many things you’d rather not swallow. The trick is to savor one delicious bite at a time without worrying about what comes next.
Our Lord taught that we are to be pure of heart in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Paul said to Titus, “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
Three years ago, I stopped by to visit a friend who I hadn’t seen in quite some time. I should have called first, but my visit was impromptu. I’m so glad Ann was home. The day was sunny and on the cool side, so she invited me to sit in the backyard.
After 18 months of dating, on June 10, 1950, at 9 a.m. mass at Corpus Christi Church in Newport, Kentucky, Bob Schumacher and I, Jean Bertke, pronounced our wedding vows before Rev. John Kroger, our relatives, friends and guests. On June 10, 2020, we remembered, but did not celebrate, our 70…
It seems so silly now. How could I ever be so naïve or gullible? Yes, it was so. It was always the longest day — besides Christmas, of course.
I believe in prayer, don’t you? I’ve written about the power of prayer in several Essays on Faith. An old song says, “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.”
