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For Wilshire Baptist Church

Next week I’m having some work done on my right shoulder. A bone spur has torn a tendon and it needs to be fixed. I’ll be in a sling during recovery so I’ve begun practicing for life as a lefty for the next six weeks or so.

I already know there are a few things I actually do fine with my left hand. I’m a natural righty like 90 percent of the population, but I tend to drive with my left hand on the steering wheel and my right hand on my thigh. There are some other tasks I can do as a lefty; I’m a switch hitter with a broom and a shovel, a hairbrush and fingernail clippers, a door handle and a light switch. But eating – that may be the biggest challenge; drinking too and especially hot coffee. I don’t want to end up in the emergency room because I fumbled my hot brew.

Continue reading “Practicing the Art of Adaptation”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

The announcement of George Mason’s retirement after 33 years as our pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church has me reflecting on two parts of my own life: the pastors I’ve had and the jobs I’ve held.

I’ve really had just four pastors in my 63 years of living. I had three growing up at First Baptist Church in Richardson. I don’t count the two before that who I can’t even name because I was an infant and the family was in transition from Montana back to North Texas. But the three I had in Richardson — Cloud, Landes and Fant — showed me what church looked and sounded like, baptized and nurtured me, and taught me how to listen and pay attention and absorb as much as I could. A great youth minister and the watch-care of my friends’ parents played a huge role in my spiritual growth as well. I also learned the importance of Christian fellowship and “church family” during those years as our family traveled though the sunshine and storms of life.

Continue reading “Pastors and Paychecks”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I didn’t know what the priest was saying in Spanish, but I knew where he was in the funeral mass. When he got to the homily I heard the words “adios” and “Jesus” several times, and I guessed he was offering the universal truth that we usually hear at memorial services: With Jesus, goodbye is not really goodbye at all.

Continue reading “Universal”