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 May 1, 2026 Last Sunday, I started my sermon at Community Church in Nevada City with this confession. “I once got locked out of my own church.” It was early Sunday morning in Izmir, Turkey, and I was the base chaplain — which, in theory, should have carried some spiritual authority over […]
[Read More]By Norris Burkes April 24. 2026 In the three months since Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy, disappeared, authorities have employed extensive, high-tech resources including FBI-analyzed DNA from her home, doorbell camera footage, and genetic genealogy. Law enforcement has fielded 18,000 tips, analyzed digital surveillance, and offered a $100,000 reward. While I pray for her return, I […]
[Read More]By Norris Burkes April 17, 2026 Whenever I’m asked what it takes to become a healthcare chaplain, I usually list school, work experience and the successful completion of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). CPE is a one-year clinical residency in which students visit patients under the mentoring direction of a gray-haired supervisor. I tend to remember […]
[Read More]By Norris Burkes April 10, 2926 I’ve officiated dozens of weddings in my 40 years as a minister, but few were as fraught with risk as the one I performed some years ago in the acute care unit of the Sacramento VA Medical Center. It all began when a nurse sent me to a room […]
[Read More]