Life is Not a Drill By Norris Burkes March 5 2023 With all the news about politicians who’ve mishandled classified material, I feel left out. I retired as a lieutenant colonel but was never given the opportunity to mishandle secrets Well, I change that today. In the Spring of 2009, I participated in a classified
Click here to take Faith test. https://www.beliefnet.com/entertainment/quizzes/beliefomatic.aspx Pew Research quiz at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/quiz/religious-typology By Norris Burkes Feb 26 2022 Perhaps you remember the famous Veg-O-Matic® commercial from the mid-1960s in which Ron Popeil, the self-titled “Salesman of the Century,” promoted a kitchen appliance better known as, “It slices, it dices, and so much more!” The
Feb 19, 2023 Even though my favorite team, the 49ers, missed their chance to compete in last weekend’s Superbowl, I still watched the game. Or at least the commercials. The ads contained the usual lineup this year in which we were wined, dined but mostly beer’d by the likes of Anheuser-Busch, Heineken and Coors. Doritos
By Norris Burkes Feb 12, 2023 Like a lot of folks, Valentine’s Day isn’t my favorite holiday. As it approaches, I’m still debating how much do I do and how many roses should I buy for 43 years of marriage. However, my job as a hospice chaplain has taught me that expressing love toward my
Feb 5 2023 By Norris Burkes Let Your “Yes” be “Yes” and Your “No” be “No” I know you’d never expect to see the word “hate” in a spiritual column, but I hate surveys. I’m a sworn enemy of long questionnaires and confusing forms that require multiple yes, no or “If-yes-then …” questions. In my
By Norris Burkes Jan 28, 2023 Last Sunday was Sanctity of Life Sunday, a day proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. And it was a hard subject to preach in my new pulpit at Community Church, Nevada City. Unfortunately, the Bible gave me little help. The Old Testament only hints at abortion in Numbers
Jan 22, 2023 This month, I’m exchanging my hospice chaplain badge for a California pulpit at the Community Church of Nevada City. At 65 years old, I don’t anticipate ever wearing another chaplain badge, so the occasion has me recalling the first day I wore the badge, 32 years ago. The year was 1991, and
By Norris Burkes, Jan 15 2023 Last month, I treated my daughter Brittney to lunch at Shawarma Planet, a popular Syrian restaurant in a South Sacramento’s urban storefront. From behind the counter, the owner took our order for a lamb gyro, then went back to prepare our food. The dining room was empty, so we
https://youtu.be/qqAzyI99CTo By Norris Burkes, Jan 8 2023 If you’ve already busted your top three New Year’s Resolutions – which likely involved the overextension of your waistline, credit line or simply too much wine -- I have a suggestion to bring your goals back on track. To achieve those goals, you may need to forget
By Norris Burkes Jan 1 2023 In the weeks after the first Christmas, the Bethlehem gossip-mill was in full swing. If there had been newspapers at the time, the Society Page would have likely run the lead headline: “Test results show Joseph not the father; considering divorce.” In the New International translation, we find a
By Norris Burkes Dec 25 2022 This Christmas, do you find yourself asking why you aren’t as happy as everyone else seems to be? Has Christmas cheer become an elusive commodity? If so, where do you get Christmas cheer? In an effort to answer those questions, a UK pie-making company called Mr. Kipling commissioned a
By Norris Burkes Dec 18 2022 You likely know that tired, old dad joke — “I don’t care what you call me, just don’t call me late for dinner.” I put the saying to the test years ago during our Christmas dinner gathering at the childhood home of my wife, Becky. Since the early death
