A Box Full of Regrets

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I got a box of books this week from Millie, an old friend from work. She didn’t mail them to me or drop by the house because she doesn’t know where I live. She didn’t call or reach out on social media because we don’t have each other’s numbers and she isn’t on social media. The sad truth is that we haven’t kept in touch very well since I left Dallas Area Rapid Transit in early 2010. Continue reading “A Box Full of Regrets”

Liberty and Justice for All

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Every night at about 11 p.m. we stand at Perry Kite’s bedside and pray The Lord’s Prayer. We’ve gotten in the habit before we pray of deciding which word we’re going to use when we come to the phrase about forgiveness: debts, sins or trespasses. It’s an acknowledgement of the varied traditions in the room. Some of us grew up saying “debts” as we read from the King James translation. At Wilshire we long ago chose “sins” as the preferred word. Some of the nurses aides say “trespasses.”

Continue reading “Liberty and Justice for All”

Are We There Yet?

For Wilshire Baptist Church

The brochure said the hike to the Merced Sequoia Grove was 1.5 miles. No problem for us; just a walk in the woods. So we set out and walked a good long ways and thought we were almost there until we came to a sign that pointed to the grove, and that is where the 1.5 miles began. Continue reading “Are We There Yet?”