Blog

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I was at my desk doing some cleanup when a YouTube collection of music popped up on my computer screen titled “Folk Country Songs.” The description listed artists I’ve always enjoyed: John Denver, Don McLean, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, America, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, etc. It seemed like a good mix for a quiet morning, so I clicked it and went back to sorting through papers, receipts and debris from 2024.

As I listened, it didn’t take long to realize something wasn’t right. The instrumental arrangements were spot on, but the vocals? I advanced the video several times to hear short segments of other songs and confirmed what I was hearing: These were meticulously created covers by almost-sound-alike vocalists.

Continue reading “Authenticity”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life, perhaps even a top 10. 

I was on my back in the dentist chair, beginning to relax after having a molar pulled. The tooth hadn’t caused any pain or problem, but it was wobbly with little jawbone support, and a root canal wouldn’t save it. 

Everything went fine with the extraction and a bone graft, and after the dentist stitched me up, he asked, “Do you want to keep the tooth?” He asked because it had a large gold crown, and even I had thought about that before I went in. I paid for that gold years ago and figured I could get cash for it somewhere. I nodded my head, and he said he would sterilize it. And then he said this: “You might want to be careful where you take it. A lot of jewelers are Jewish, and they won’t take gold from a tooth because it brings back memories of the Holocaust.”

Continue reading “Painful Reminder”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Valentine’s Day can deliver a mixed bag of emotions and experiences depending on who you are and where you are on the journey of life. 

For children, it’s a friendship day, and for adolescents a potential first blush of feeling the gyrations of something more than friendship. For lovers it’s a day to share and express their love. For happily marrieds, a day to renew and recharge; for older marrieds, a time to remember and rekindle. And, realistically, for many it can be a day of regret and reflection over mistakes and miscues, broken hearts, shattered hopes and dreams that never came true.

Continue reading “Happy Valentine’s Day . . . Maybe”