By Norris Burkes Oct 2. 2022 “What does God want me to do about this, Chaplain?” That’s a question I’ve been asked repeatedly over the years I’ve served as a military or healthcare chaplain. An Army sniper sought my counsel wondering if God approved of him killing enemy combatants. Unhappy couples questioned if God was
By Norris Burkes. Sept 25 2022 If you can imagine how frustrated a preacher would have to be to swear a blue streak, then you might understand the old expression, “It’s enough to make a preacher cuss.” I grew up in a Baptist church, so it’s safe to say that I’d never heard a preacher
By Norris Burkes Sept 18 2022 In the Baptist church where I grew up, Deacon Bob taught that rites and rituals were of Catholic origin and therefore had no place in the Baptist faith. As a chaplain, I can tell you that rites are rarely wrong. Deacon Bob was wrong. Our Sunday services was full of
By Norris Burkes Sept 11. 2022 As you read this, my wife, Becky, and I are winging across the Atlantic toward Lisbon, Portugal, where we hope to finally begin celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary – postponed two years for the pandemic. I have reading material to share with my beloved. She likes it when I
Sept 4 2022 by Norris Burkes If you like books, consider joining Chispa Project in 2023 to help start libraries in Honduras. February 12–19 or March 12 - 19. Details at https://chispaproject.org/volunteertrip Normally my Labor Day column consists of my annual list of book recommendations. But before I share my literary advice, allow me a
By Norris Burkes Aug 21, 2022 As the 1970s ended, I began classes at Golden Gate Seminary as a less-than-serious student. On a sprawling campus perched in the prosperous hills of Marin County, California, I focused on one thing – and it was not my theological studies. I was determined to make Becky Nuckolls my
By Norris Burkes Aug 14, 2022 “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” belongs on the list of things my mother taught me to never say. Never tell somebody to “shut up.” Never call someone “stupid.” And finally, never accuse anyone of being a “liar.” I consider that good spiritual advice. Most of you likely agree with
By Norris Burkes Aug 7, 2022 At our dinner table last week, I surprised my wife, Becky, by telling her that I wanted to see Jordan Peele’s new movie, “Nope.” “Are you really going to see that thing?” she asked. I didn’t understand her question. She knows I’m a sucker for an alien sci-fi movie.
July 31 2022 By Norris Burkes I confess. I read some nerdy books. One such book is “Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words” (Crown, 2002). Bryson doesn’t suffer literary fools when it comes to the words we commonly misuse. He’s a purist, drawing careful, some would say absurd, distinctions between words such as “nauseous” and “nauseated.” The
By Norris Burkes, July 22 2022 On most mornings, I begin the workday at my hospice office by calling my patients to arrange for visits in their homes. Today is much the same as I set an early afternoon appointment with a woman in her mid-sixties who’s been given less than six months to live.
By Norris Burkes July 17 2022 I still remember a moment twenty years ago when my middle daughter, Brittney, finished watching a movie called “John Q,” a 2002 drama starring Denzel Washington. If you saw the film, you’ll recall how Washington played John Quincy Archibald, a desperate father whose insurance company refuses to pay for
By Norris Burkes, July 10, 2022 As a hospice chaplain, the patients I visit aren’t always religious people. However, if I sense that they will be receptive of prayer, I give them “the chaplain’s choice.” “Would you like me to pray aloud for you now, or put you on my list to pray for you
