Pentecost Moments

For Wilshire Baptist Church

The devastating fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris on April 15 had everyone who has ever visited that gothic wonder searching their memories and scanning their files for stories and pictures of the last time they were there. In a way it was a “Pentecost moment” in that people from around the world were speaking in unison but in their own language about their love for the great church in the heart of the City of Light.

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Report From Flyover Country

For Wilshire Baptist Church

We had the privilege and pleasure to drive out of the city and into the heartland this past weekend to attend our nephew’s graduation from Cimarron High School in northeast New Mexico. The village has a population of approximately 1,000 – some of that is year-round staff at Philmont Scout Ranch nearby – so the school is small and the graduating class numbered just 21.

This is the fifth time I’ve attended the high school commencement for one of my brother’s kids, and the ceremonies are always memorable and more than that, they’re enlightening and encouraging. 

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Every Day, Sing Your Song

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“If I feel like my song is sung, I don’t care if it’s short.” That’s an intriguing philosophy in one sentence — for music, for just about anything, even an entire life.

I heard those words at the end of a recording of “You Are My Sunshine” sung by Johnny Cash. I’d been hearing a snippet of it on several TV commercials for Whirlpool appliances with the theme of “Every Day, Care.” I liked the sound of it and found the full recording in which Cash sings two verses and two choruses, his rough bass-baritone starkly accompanied by acoustic guitar. When the music ends, you hear others in the studio talking about the length of the song. Someone suggests there’s another verse they could add, and that’s when Cash says it: “If I feel like my song is sung, I don’t care if it’s short.” 

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