I’ve been humming Gordon Lightfoot tunes since his passing last month. I mean, a little more than usual. My brothers and and I latched onto Gordon Lightfoot’s special genius as teenagers when visiting our mom’s side of the family in California the spring when Sundown topped the charts. We then learned that our beloved Uncle … Continue reading Lesser Known Lightfoot: The Singer’s Spiritual Side
A couple of weeks back, a friend in an online writing group I'm in gave us a quick haiku challenge. Mine wasn't perfect, but it was straight from the heart: When autumn leaves twirl/ Like cowgirl ballerinas/ I miss you, Rich Mullins. He died 25 years ago today. I've written about Rich Mullins' contribution to … Continue reading 25 Years after his Death, I Still Miss Rich Mullins
He died ten years ago at the age of 68. He didn't achieve fame at the level of some who admired him, among them James Taylor, Carole King, Lindsey Buckingham, Nanci Griffith and Roseanne Cash. Nevertheless, he remains a highly-acclaimed hero of Americana music, one of the original singer/songwriters to blend folk music with rock. … Continue reading John Stewart, Mother Teresa and the Power of Song in the Field Where the Angels Dance
After 20 years experience working with children impacted by our policies regarding the US/Mexico border, I responded to the most recent border crisis (family separation) with a reflection carried by Colorado's oldest newspaper, The Pueblo Chieftain ( Children pay price over border policy.) It's about children, red/blue division and our national inability to recognize the humanity … Continue reading The Border and the Both/And
It seems almost everyone is complaining about division in the culture, but our loudest hate-speech protesters often behave no better than the groups they complain about. And if we're honest with ourselves, most of the rest of us have, at least once in a while, been edgier with opponents than we're proud of. Try as … Continue reading Celebrate Strong Dads with a Song and a Slice of Enemy Pie (and Learn to Love Your Enemies Too)
A political/religious blog I subscribe to sent me an email survey the other day. Its intent was to discover what kind of content its readership would appreciate in the new year. I was asked to rate my feelings about the major players on the American political scene, both left and right, and to offer my … Continue reading Land of My Sojourn: Ugly Politics and Our True Home
It's not that I've never wielded a weapon in the culture war. I have. The stakes are high in our divisive times, critical issues constantly confront us and each of us must join the conversation when the moment calls for it. Yet I'm tiring of the way so many of us are going about it. … Continue reading Making Peace with the War on Christmas
"At the very moment when we need faith the most, it can seem most elusive." The man who wrote these words is losing his eyesight, and I'd begun reading his book on suffering only a day or two before the news of a mass shooting at the Sunday morning service of the First Baptist Church … Continue reading In the Night: A Song for Your Playlist of Hope
"There's more that rises on the prairie than the wind." These words still rise in my heart when the majesty of the natural world lifts it. They're from "If I Stand," a 1988 release by Rich Mullins and Steve Cudworth. Jars of Clay covered "If I Stand" a decade later on a tribute album released a … Continue reading Rich Mullins’ Musical Legacy May Include Drawing Catholics and Protestants a Little Closer
I once heard a song on the radio that moved me so much I called the station to find out who the artist was. The song, it turned out, was "Boy Like Me/Man Like You." The heartbreakingly vulnerable voice that had moved me belonged to Rich Mullins. "Boy Like Me/Man Like You" is the second … Continue reading Grant Me the Grace to Hurt Like Rich Mullins
