My first year as a chaplain at Simmons, I made the effort to be at every funeral I could possibly attend. I think I ended up being apart of 48 or so that first year. I spent a lot of time observing things: the messages being preached, the family dynamics, and words/phrases that I kept hearing.
Read MoreIn this crazy world, there's an enormous distinction between good times and bad, between sorrow and joy. But in the eyes of God, they're never separated. Where there is pain, there is healing. Where there is mourning, there is dancing. Where there is poverty, there is the Kingdom of God...
Read MoreDon’t let anyone take your grief away from you. You deserve it, and you must have it. If you had a broken leg, no one would criticize you for using crutches until it was healed. If you had a major surgery, no one would pressure you to run a marathon the next week. Grief is a major wound. It does not heal overnight. You must have the time and crutches until you heal...
Read MoreWe were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, 'Blessed are they that mourn,' and I accept it. I've got nothing that I hadn't bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination
Read MoreMemorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There is evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War. It is likely that Memorial Day had many separate beginnings of spontaneous gatherings of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s, the general humane need to honor their dead.
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