This trip is my third to East Africa in the past 12 months. I love the adventurousness of it all, and the exotic nature that resides in East Africa. My wife, who is traveling with me, and I met a wonderful missionary couple yesterday. They work with the Pokot Tribe in Northern Kenya. From hearing…
Category Archives: Spirituality
Ben Carson
If you enjoy true and inspiring stories, I highly recommend the book and movie “Gifted Hands.” Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Dr. Ben Carson, Chief Pediatric Neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins. That is the top of the physician totem pole. Dr. Carson became famous for being the first to successfully separate twins joined at the head. Previous…
What is the meaning of this?
I have been reading and enjoying David Stokes’ “Apparent Danger.” It retells the story of Pastor J. Frank Norris, the 1920′s lightning rod pastor of First Baptist Church in Fort Worth. I didn’t realize Fort Worth had such a national stage 90 years ago. It is a story about the coming to power of a…
Haiti Six Months Later
I believe the Haiti earthquake occurred on January 12, 2010. So we are approaching the 6 month mark. From the Antioch Community Church reports, I know that the relief efforts have shifted from medical to rebuilding. I had the privilege of being a relief worker one week after the earthquake. I was part of a…
On Widowhood
James, the half-brother of Jesus, tells us that “true religion is assisting widows and orphans in their distress, and keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.” I haven’t experienced widowhood, but I have cared for many who have. One 92 year-old woman told me that in her experience directly as a widow, and indirectly,…
HOPE Session Tomorrow Evening
Tomorrow from 6-8PM, at the Culinary School of Fort Worth, our chaplain, Mike Shreve, will host our first grief counseling HOPE session. The Culinary School address is 6100 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76116 (just above La Madeleine on Camp Bowie). If you have recently suffered the loss of a loved one, please join…
Grief Session Wednesday June 9
If you ask anyone what is the most difficult life trial they have faced, many will say the loss of a loved one. It is a near universal experience, the felt loss is devastating, and support for those struggling through it is not readily available. We at Texas Hospice are committed to improving and expanding…
Not Just a Manicure
While visiting a patient last week, I witnessed a family member giving our patient a manicure. It was beautiful to see. Both were enjoying themselves immensely. A manicure isn’t much, is it? It doesn’t take long, or much skill to clean and polish nails. From a hospice standpoint, there aren’t any studies looking at the…
Living and Dying Wills
In October 1991, Gilbert Meilaender, who chairs the theology department at Valparaiso University, wrote an evocative essay on making decisions through living wills. The article appeared in First Things and is called “I want to Burden my Loved Ones.” Professor Meilaender makes the point that family members need each other to make it through life. …
William Wilberforce and End of Life
Many people saw the 2006 film, Amazing Grace, about the British slave-trade abolitionist, William Wilberforce. In summary, after his conversion to Christ as an adult, Wilberforce, a powerful member of Parliament, sets all his energies toward stopping the 19th century British slave trade. Despite many obstacles, and through decades of labor, he succeeds, and then…
