Download MP3 (right click to save)
Back in the 1990s, the United Nations announced the appointment of a new Secretary General. His name was Kofi Annan. He was a highly respected African diplomat. And as the spotlight shifted to this new Secretary General, well, the reporters wanted to learn more about his life, including what I found to be an enlightening story that he told from his childhood.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I have no official statistics on what I'm about to say; just a personal impression. But I believe the State of Pennsylvania might be the road kill capitol of the Northeast; especially for deer population. I have seen many more dead deer by the side of the road there than any state in that region. Of course, there's a lot more of Pennsylvania, too. But I read an article about the outraged mayor of a small town in Pennsylvania. The Interstate runs through his community. This is a true story! The reason for his outrage? A paving crew was working on that road one summer, and they came upon a dead deer with much of its carcass lying on the road. Want to try to guess what they did next? They went right ahead and paved right over the deer! "Honey, I just hit a bump in the road. I think it's a deer!"
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Part of my heart's been in Charleston, South Carolina these past few days. So has a part of America's heart. There was this hate-driven murder, of nine Christian worshipers in the church. It’s devastated the city and it’s riveted our nation. Seasoned reporters have been groping for words. They come up with words like "horrific" and "heartbreaking." But even more overwhelming than the brutal crime was the response of the families whose loved ones were murdered. "I forgive you."
Download MP3 (right click to save)
It's important for fathers and sons to do things together, right, like my son helping me with the yard work so we can bond, of course. I remember one day when my oldest son was probably just about five. It was a hot day. I was mowing and my son was following around after me clipping. I looked over to him and I smiled. About five minutes later he came over and yelled over the mower, "Daddy, could you please do that again?" I said, "Could I do what again, son?" He said, "Daddy, could you smile at me again? Your smile keeps me going."
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We sure take for granted our ability to make a phone call. There were some folks in Chicago's western suburbs some years ago who didn't take it for granted. Now, you've got to realize, that was in the day before cellular technology. My daughter was in college in the western suburbs of Chicago, and she was used to being able to pick up the phone and there's Mom and Dad.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I was in Arizona taking the opportunity to spend a little time with my son and our daughter-in-law. And since I'm the early riser of our family, they showed me where all the breakfast food was.
Now, breakfast isn't breakfast without a bagel or an English muffin, right? Well, they had some. So I popped a bagel into their aging toaster oven. And after rounding up the rest of my breakfast, I looked through the oven window to see how my bagel was doing, and I quickly opened the door to save it from burning, only to find out it was nowhere near done. I repeated that exercise two or three times. You know why? The window on that toaster oven had gotten clouded and murky over the years. So everything you looked at through that window looked darker than it really was.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
In my little world, "nuke" is just a word that describes what happens to my leftovers when I put them in the microwave. But when I was doing a week of outreach on an Air Force base, nuke meant something far more lethal, like nuclear missile. This particular base was home to scores of missiles that had been part of the front lines of our nation's defense for years. They were kept in underground silos surrounded by very high tech security systems. And it was my privilege to be taken on a visit to one of the launch control centers. Each one of these control centers was responsible for ten missiles.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Our dog, Missy, had to share our attention with another pet. Yeah, it was a canary that we named in honor of one of our Native American friends. We named the canary Cherokee. Now, this little yellow cheerleader was great for when you were in a bad mood because he never was! As soon as you uncovered his cage in the morning, he began warbling his repertoire of happy tunes. It might be a sunny day, and you had happy singing from him all day long. It might be a miserable day. Guess what? Happy singing all day long! It didn't matter how the people around our canary felt; happy, stressed, noisy, quiet, or down. It just didn't matter. No matter what, he was always singing!
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Easter night millions of Americans tuned in to Jesus, like they did two years ago with "The Bible" miniseries on cable TV. Except this time, "A.D. - The Bible Continues" was on a major network. I was one of those millions who was watching on Easter, plunged into the world-changing events of that first Good Friday and Easter.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I checked my suitcase at the airport, and then I see it disappear as the conveyor belt carries it beyond the curtain into that black hole called the luggage zone. I sometimes wonder how my bag is going to be handled. Now, I don't know exactly what baggage handlers do, but I do know that Bertha, (that's the name I gave my suitcase since we spend so much time together) may get tossed or buried, or squished.
