Blog – Page 2 – Jeff Hampton, Writer

Do you know what God looks like? On a recent Sunday morning, a little girl in LeAnn’s Pre-K Sunday school class said she had drawn a picture of God. LeAnn asked if she could see it, and the answer was “no, I’m taking it home.” I think that’s a pretty good answer.

Perhaps from the beginning of time and certainly for the last 2000 years, humans have tried to picture God, along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We’ve mostly tried to recreate God in our own image, which often has resulted in renderings of stern old men in beards. We’ve seen everything from Michelangelo’s God reaching out to Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome, to George Burn’s depiction of God as a frumpy little man in a jacket and loafers in the film, “Oh, God!”

February 6, 2026

Parsing Pronouns

For Wilshire Baptist Church

A longtime friend who writes, performs and advocates called this week with a request: He’s in the final editing phase of a book of essays about blessings and wanted my opinion on his use of the pronouns “I” and “you.” His editor said he should use one or the other but not together. My friend contends they can and should be used together. I agree – not just grammatically and stylistically, but because when used together there is so much power.

When we talk about what we are doing, have done or will do or experience, we use “I.” Meanwhile, “you” is usually about, well, what you have, are or will do or experience. Often those are two different conversations. But when you are talking about a personal experience and want to make a universal connection, using both “you” and “I” builds a bridge to shared experience.

January 29, 2026

Writing Sweet Memories

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Some of the best gifts are the unexpected ones. Like a souvenir from a long-gone restaurant where the first sentences of a new chapter of life were written.

A couple of months ago, I was sitting with the Wilshire Winds at the front of the sanctuary and waiting for the Sunday service to begin, when Charlene Law walked up to me and handed me a small thin box.

“I was going through some stuff and found this. Thought you and LeAnn might want it,” she said.