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For Wilshire Baptist Church

I’d never experienced it before and nobody else I talked to who was there had either: a fire alarm at a memorial service. 

We’d sung hymns, heard the eulogy and family memories, and the minister was halfway through his message when a bright white emergency light began blinking on the wall near the door. After a half-dozen blinks there was the familiar sound of a fire alarm, and then a recorded message instructing us to exit the building immediately. Knowing that it might be a false alarm, the minister kept speaking over the alarm while the senior pastor went to check the situation. A short while later he came back and said, “I apologize but this is a real alarm and we do need to leave.”

Continue reading “Safe and Secure”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I was out mowing on the morning of July Fourth and looked up to see Orlando, our Cuban refugee neighbor, giving me a thumbs up from across the street. I call him a “refugee” without really knowing his story. I know his daughter came here some years ago, met and married a man from Mexico while they both worked at a large downtown hotel, and eventually brought her parents over. Refugees, immigrants, migrants, legal, illegal — I just don’t know. They’re our neighbors and good neighbors at that, and like many of us home-grown types they are mostly private and keep to themselves.

Continue reading “Strength for the Journey”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Sunday in church we sang the hymn, “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” in advance of Independence Day, which lands on Thursday this week. We sing it just once each year at Wilshire, but there is a message in the text that should have some year-round implications.

Continue reading “Let Freedom Ring”