By Norris Burkes July 11, 2021 I once pastored a church where our music minister, Don Smith, often greeted our congregation with a harmonious, “Good morning!” Sadly, our sleepy parishioners often failed to reciprocate his enthusiasm. On those occasions, Smith fired a question to resuscitate the elderly congregants – “How many of you would rather
By Norris Burkes, July 4th 2021 You may recall how last year my wife, Becky, suggested we expand Independence Day celebrations by designating July as “Freedom Month.” Taking inspiration from her idea, I sat down again to write three “Freedom Month” columns. Today’s makes liberal exaggerations of some recent conversations. --------------------------------------------- “Chaplain, I want to
By Norris Burkes June 27 2021 Some years ago, I was making my rounds as a staff chaplain in a Catholic hospital when a nurse sent me to see a patient on her unit. “She’s on life support,” the nurse explained. “If she dies, this will be the third death today.” When I walked into
By Norris Burkes, June 20, 2021 This Father’s Day I must confess that I probably owe much of my appreciation for God to the two fathers I’ve known in my lifetime. My biological father was a loving tall-Texan, a Southern Baptist pastor, who taught me to love people more than a fight. He lived long
By Norris Burkes, June 13, 2021 Flag Day is this coming Monday, so I encourage you to proudly and properly display our American flag on your front porch, stoop, or driveway. As a retired USAF chaplain, my view of “proper display” may differ from yours. But I do hope you will avoid the boorish examples
By Norris Burkes June 6 2021 As I conclude my three-part column series exploring the decline of church attendance, I’m reminded of an old joke about a man who often interrupted his pastor’s sermon with a hearty “amen!” With each disturbance, the pastor would often lose her place. A cantankerous old deacon twice asked
Reader’s note: In honor of Memorial Day, today’s column is an abridged chapter from my book, “Hero’s Highway.” Next week, I’ll return with the last of the three-column series, “Where Has Our Religion Gone?” By Norris Burkes, May 30 2021 On Feb. 23, 2009, I was in the middle of a four-month deployment serving at
Chapter 9 from Hero's Highway VENGEANCE ISN'T CHEAP As March came to an end, star-shouldered generals gathered for morning meetings to plan troop transfers from Iraq into Afghanistan. None of them seemed to require our input, so Pastorius and I spent our time talking about the slight increase in temperatures. I suppose it was
By Norris Burkes May 23, 2021 As I prepare for my first speaking engagements since the pandemic began, I’m certain to again hear this common question: “Why is church attendance declining?” Last week, I began answering that question in the first of a three-part series. I shared a Gallup poll tracing the decline of America’s
By Norris Burkes May 16, 2021 Last Sunday morning, my wife and I pulled up to a stoplight not far from our home and spotted our neighbors pulled alongside us. In a brief moment, we exchanged the prerequisite fun faces of surprise before the green light signaled our Subarus to resume highway speed. For the
By Norris Burkes May 9, 2021 Yup. It’s Mother’s Day weekend again. Some see it as a holiday Hallmark invented to pique our guilt enough to buy cards and flowers for our moms and take them to dinner. The Hallmark view of Mother’s Day can feel contrived, so I’m grateful that I once had a
By Norris Burkes May 02, 2021 (Revised after publication.) The most important piece of equipment, in my opinion, is something issued to me during my military career. Soldiers called it the BS detector. Yes, I said it. But for the purposes of this spiritual column – and for my mom – let’s call it my
