just enough light

While the governor, lieutenant governor, the ERCOT board, and others who stand to look bad because of the recent electrical failure are busy pointing fingers and providing rationale, each fails to mention one glaring fact. No one is talking about the need to transition to completely renewable or carbon-free forms of energy. Regardless of what […]

Many years ago I read a sermon by Ernest Campbell titled, “Locked in a room with open doors.” I remember it being a good sermon, though I don’t recall specifics. However, the title stuck. Numerous times since I first read it, I have found myself realizing, “Here I am. I’m locked in this room with […]

As Randy and I approached the door to the grocery store, a man who appeared to be in his 30s was coming out the door. He cradled a sack of groceries in his left arm and pushed the door with his right hand. He was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt, his hair was a […]

I started my day with the thought, “I have nothing to write today.” Well, that wasn’t the true start. The true start was some bleary-eyed sitting with my first cup of coffee. But once I got to the point of rational thought, “I have nothing to write today” was my first conclusion. With that, I […]

Cracks in the ceiling. These are common in this part of the country. Intense heat during the summer, dry ground, slight shifting of the foundation, and “Behold,” cracks in the ceiling. Yesterday I decided to tackle two such cracks in the entryway of our house. I’ve done it often enough I had some idea of […]

I fasted yesterday. I went without food from dinner on Tuesday until dinner yesterday evening. It was not really a planned fast; there was no spiritual motivation or noble cause behind it. During a week of being homebound, with subfreezing temperatures, a couple of days of water outage, and most of that time with my […]

Yesterday, President Biden publicly commemorated the 500,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in this country alone. It’s a staggering number, and yet as the stories keep coming and the number goes up, I get numb to the reality of it. Because I am not a nurse or some other front-line worker, because I don’t […]

Yesterday, sitting in my car behind another car at an intersection stop sign, I noted a familiar pattern. The driver in front of me was making a right turn onto a street that had two lanes going each direction. The traffic was patchy with cars crossing every few seconds. At the first break in the […]

I spent most of Monday and Tuesday last week melting snow. We were among the few who did not lose power during the winter storm, but we lost water for a few days. We were surrounded by snow, having just come through the biggest snowfall in Abilene history on Sunday, so I decided to melt […]

-a sermon preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baird, TX. 9-20-20 “It’s just not fair!” How many times have you heard children shout that at the end of a game that didn’t turn out the way they wanted. I heard that at the end of every argument that ended with one of my children being grounded. […]