Spirituality In Everyday Life
Norris Burkes
As a military and hospital chaplain, I routinely observe the stories of faith in the everyday lives of real people. My site tells those faith stories in a humorous, hope-filled, and honest way. I believe you will find them inspiring and potentially life-changing. Most of all, I believe the insight within these stories will connect with your story in a meaningful way. Enjoy!
Thriving Beyond Surviving
As a hospital and military Chaplain Norris Burkes has seen things he must never tell. Yet as a syndicated columnist in 38 secular newspapers around the country, he has found ways to share shades of the sacred with his readers.
This book compiles ten years of newspaper columns that takes you into the military battlefield as well as the trauma rooms of major hospitals.
Recent Columns From Norris Burkes
By Norris Burkes, March 30 2025 Family lore from my wife’s kinfolk recounts the first time my father-in-law assumed solo caregiving responsibilities for his firstborn infant, Becky, my wife. Those who retell it say that Becky’s mother, Darla, left the house for a church event and gave her young husband, Wilbur, explicit instructions on how […]
[Read More]Note to readers: The woman described in this column is a composite character representing the many conversations I’ve had with those seeking chaplain jobs. By Norris Burkes March 23 2025 Not long ago, I was working for a hospice group when a woman stopped by my office considering chaplain employment. Touting her recent graduation from […]
[Read More]By Norris Burkes March 16 2025 Today’s column comes straight out of ancient times. This is wrath-of-God stuff. We are talking “Fire and brimstone, baby, right out of the Old Testament cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Nah, you know I’m messing with you. You don’t read this column to get the hellish diatribe made famous […]
[Read More]By Norris Burkes March 9 2025 When a reader once left a voicemail suggesting that I wasn’t worthy of my chaplain title, I shrugged. That’s OK, I thought, I’ve heard that before. The worst occasion happened during my USAF deployment to Saudi Arabia in 1999. That’s when my supervisor, Col. Mike Bradshaw, told me I […]
[Read More]