My chaplain friend, Tamara Chin, likes to say, "Mark the places where you find God and go there often."
I found that especially good advice this week as I budgeted for a 40 percent income drop in my crossover to full-time writing.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the comic butt-kicking that has encouraged me to begin full-time writing. I thought I'd get a lot of
e-mail scolding me about my un-chaplain-like language, but my mom was the only one to call.
"Mom," I reasoned, "at least it isn't like some of the language I've been hearing in the hospital this past week."
... As I sat in the doctor's office this week -- with my clothes in a pile -- awaiting my annual physical, I could think of only one thing.
Only the day before, I had fallen in a gallant attempt to safeguard my grandchild, who was teetering close to the stairs.
Oh don't worry, he's fine, but let's just say I'm not spending as much time in the writer's chair as I'd like to this week.
I once ran to the emergency waiting room to meet a family whose mother was undergoing CPR.
"Hello, I'm the hospital chaplain," I said between breaths.
As the word "chaplain" puffed from my lips, 350 pounds of man distributed over 6 feet, 3 inches of body shot up and pointed his index finger toward the door.
The most critical and frequent question I get from readers is usually phrased something like: "Why don't you use your job as a hospital chaplain to tell people about Jesus?"
That question is second only to: "Why don't you use this column to tell people about Jesus?"
The question assumes several things, but mostly it assumes that chaplains represent Christianity and should evangelize patients. The second question assumes that a Christian who writes a... Read on...
I recently received an e-mail from an editor friend making me a generous offer for my writing.
It was so generous, I was ecstatic. I jumped about the room excited over the prospects of leaving my "day job" to become a full-time writer. I imagined myself becoming the next American Idol with my rendition of David Allen Coe's "Take This Job And Shove It."
I called friends and family. I put them on speakerphone. I started dancing with that motion you ma... Read on...
I know they aren't real, but if I ignore them, I do so at my own peril.
In the calm demeanor of "Hal 9000" of "2001: A Space Odyssey," the phone call began with, "The item . . . The item . . . the item you . . . you . . the item you brought for repair . . ."
A reader recently addressed an e-mail to me using the personal nicknames he'd recalled from the columns in my book "No Small Miracles."
He called me "Chappy" in the same way a Navy friend always did. He called me Ed after a story I wrote about my aborted attempt to go by my middle name. He also called me "Bible Stud," but you'll have to buy the book to figure that one out.
January is the month most health experts and fitness evangelists will proclaim: "Lose the weight."
I have a little different take on that proclamation. I say, "It's time to lose the wait."
I know a little something about wait. As a hospital chaplain, I sit in a lot of waiting rooms, and I am somewhat of a wait expert.
As an expert, I can tell you there are times when one must wait on life, and there are times when one must refuse to wait.Read on...
As a hospital chaplain, I ask a lot of personal questions.
They aren't as personal as the ones nurses ask about bowel movements and pregnancies, but they don't hurt as much either.
My questions are part of a spiritual assessment designed to connect patients with their own spiritual resources. Today, I offer these questions as a way of directing you toward the spiritual resources of the new year.
As a hospital chaplain, I ask a lot of personal questions.
They aren't as personal as the ones nurses ask about bowel movements and pregnancies, but they don't hurt as much either.
My questions are part of a spiritual assessment designed to connect patients with their own spiritual resources. Today, I offer these questions as a way of directing you toward the spiritual resources of the new year.
Many of us enjoy reminiscing at year's end, and columnists are no different.
For that reason, and because I, too, am trying to wrangle some family time at Christmas, I've compiled some of my 2007 musings into a sort of spiritual advice list.
Forget the "woulda couldas,&qu... Read on...
God Hurts from all Broken Relationships
If this were a Christmas gossip column in Biblical times, I might title it, "Test results show Joseph not the father; parents of alleged Savior considering divorce."
Yes, embedded in the Christmas story is a line from Mathew 1:19 not usually emphasized in candlelighted church readings. "Joseph, her (Mary) husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace; he had in mind to divorce her quietly."
As a chaplain I'm often as... Read on...
Power of forgiveness must be used responsibly
Last week I wrote about the Lord's Prayer and encouraged its use as a prayer that can inspire all faiths.
The column inspired a question from FLORIDA TODAY reader Jean Starkey.
"In your column about the Lord's Prayer . . . you discuss the line: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' You explain it a... Read on...
'Lord's Prayer' inspires many faiths
If you're looking for holiday prayer recipes, may I suggest a prayer that might help you avoid hearing Uncle Bill's endless prayer about world problems?
It's commonly called the "Lord's Prayer."
"I'm not Christian," you say. Maybe you're Jewish, Muslim or Hindu. No worries. I've often found inspiration in prayers of other traditions by emphasizing the part of the prayer that most corresponds with my own tradition. I invite you to do the same.
<... Read on...
Past experiences sometimes remind us of Golden Rule
In summer 1985, the homeless mother of a small child asked me a question: Why had I been so willing to house her family for three weeks in a small travel trailer on our church parking lot?
I quoted the Golden Rule as it was quoted by Jesus in Luke 6:31: "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." Then I told her this story.
Five summers hence, in 1980, my best friend Roger Williams asked my help in moving him from his Baylor University apartment to th... Read on...
Allow faith to make a difference in your life -- today
In the late '60s, there was a television show called "Time Tunnel," starring James Darren as Dr. Tony Newman and Robert Colbert as Dr. Doug Phillips.
Darren and Colbert played the parts of two research scientists who developed the top secret Time Tunnel, only to become lost in it, tumbling among the infinite corridors of time.
Each episode portrayed a new attempt to bring the time travelers back to present day, but naturally each attempt only brought them int... Read on...
Real faith requires reach into uncertainty
When something is believed to be certain, we say it is "written in stone."
Last month I witnessed that kind of certainty alongside the construction site of our new children's hospital. Beneath my feet, in the freshly-laid sidewalk, someone had scratched a message of which they seemed fairly certain: "Jesus Saves."
Certainty can be good a thing. We need to board an airplane with some assurance it will bring us safely to our destination. We need certa... Read on...
Be who you are, not who others think you should be
It's hard to believe, in our post "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" era, that people still can mistake me for a doctor because I wear a necktie.
Yet it happens nearly every day. Last month, I was walking the hospital hallway when an ambulatory patient called from the doorway of his room, "How's it going, doctor?"
"I'm not a doctor," I told him.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he replied.
I paused -- mostly for the effect -- turned to h... Read on...
Inspiration won't expire if you're life becomes a prayer
This past month, at my weekend drill for the California Air National Guard, our unit social worker walked into my office and asked me if I was busy.
"Yes, I'm busy," I told colleague Nancy Bloom. "I have a list."... Read on...
Sometimes, it's good to sweat the small stuff
My first born child, Sara, almost died last month.
This is the 23-year-old airline employee who travels the world and hangs from cliffs on remote islands. This is the one who has jumped into moving boxcars.
I know, I know. I told her it was dumb. She thought it was fun. She's promised never to tell me if she does it again. So far, so good.
I've done my best to protect her all her life. I've strapped her in a car seat and affixed bicycle helmets to her head. I'v... Read on...
It was a dark and stormy night.
It was a dark and stormy night.
OK, it wasn't so stormy, but it was getting dark on this Saturday night in 1985, when I encountered a stranded motorist standing alongside his Volkswagen Beetle.
This was before the days of the cell phone. Motorists not near a pay phone depended on a "Prayer Phone." And to this man with a flat tire, but no jack, I seemed to be the answer to his prayers.
Yet, as I pulled my floor jack from my car, I knew my motives for s... Read on...
Faith works best when you're alone
Last month, my wife and I took a beautiful tour of Alaska that included seven nights aboard Holland America's ms Statendam and a five-day land tour.
Like any package tour, the itinerary took us where the company brought us and sold us what the company dictated. From the ship, we saw the wind-swept glaciers at their appointed hour and exclaimed our aahs and oohs when prompted.
On the land portion, we stayed in company-owned hotels. We panned for gold on the grounds of t... Read on...
It's nuts to let lust blur our vision
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
The conversation was plain nuts. Well, not exactly plain nuts, more like flavored macadamia nuts.
The nutty conversation took place in Harrington's restaurant in Hilo, Hawaii, where my Air... Read on...
God pulls tortured soul from the edge
Last month, I gave my annual suicide prevention briefing to my Air National Guard unit. After the briefing, Sgt. Gilbert Rodela astonished me when told me privately, "I know what steel tastes like."
In the next few hours, Gil related his story.
In July 1992, Gil's sister called him wi... Read on...
Church repents for Christianity's hypocrisy
BY BY NORRIS BURKES
FLORIDA TODAY
If you've ever been offended by a Christian, Pastor Barry Smith of Sacramento's Impact Community Church wants you to know he's sorry.
Believing the reputation of the church has been tainted... Read on...
We harness true power to change
"I think God has granted me permission to change my hair color," I said, as I stood primping my graying hair.
"If you're hearing God talk to you about hair color, you need to cut back on the caffeine," my wife said.
I usually glare at her when she talks to me that way, but I decided to both elucidate and elaborate.
"You know that line in the serenity prayer where it says, 'God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change ... Read on...
We'll never truly get over prejudice
I heard someone say once we're all just one uncle away from "The Jerry Springer Show."
I have such an uncle. In his younger days, he'd gladly have appeared on Springer to argue against interracial dating. I know this because when I was 19, he asked me what color my new girlfriend was.
Quickly, I challenged him, "Does it matter?"
It wasn't too hard to challenge prejudice so glaringly obvious, but what about when bigotry isn't so obvious? What... Read on...
It's OK to sit down, stand for what you believe
This month I met a chaplain who refused to pray for an Air Force general. If that shocks you, I think I should add I greatly respect him for it.
I suspect some of you are saying what my mom used to say, "You'd better explain yourself PDQ."
It happened, or perhaps I should say it didn't happen, in Leesburg, Va., last week where I attended a conference for Air National Guard senior chaplains and chaplain assistants. It had been a good week, but by week's end, most of u... Read on...
After delivering the news of death so many times, I'm out of tears
While most of us will remember this month as a time to celebrate our independence, many families will remember it as a time when their loved one gave a life for that independence.
By the time you read this, notification teams like mine will have knocked on nearly 4,000 doors to inform coalition families they have lost a loved one in the current war.
Last week, I knocked on yet another door. After our visit, I went home and wrote an entry in my journal. I want to dedicate it... Read on...
Sound of silence music to my ears
Last month, I flew to the Big Island of Hawaii with members of my California Air National Guard unit in a horrendously noisy
C-130 military transport plane.
During this deafening nine-hour ordeal in the prop-driven aircraft, I found myself daydreaming about silence. Silence seemed as if it would be worth every bit of gold it was purported to be.
Lately, my head has been filled with more noise than this rusty old plane. It's been filled with a colluding cacophony of hawk... Read on...
'Getting around to it' has arrived, so what are you waiting for?
June 30, 2007
Do you know where you want to go before you die?
That's the subject of the reality show, "1000 Places to See Before You Die," which chronicles the journey of a young couple who put their lives on hold to travel the world. The show tugs at the wanderlust in most of us who want to go "someplace, someday."
I knew a man in the first church I pastored who felt this way. He was our music minister. He'd always wanted to see the United States ... Read on...
Let her cry and truth, healing follow
June 23, 2007
Let me give you some advice," said Dr. Timothy Little. "Sometimes the only power a patient has left is the power to kick the chaplain out of the room."
It was an odd piece of advice, especially coming from the man who trained me to be a hospital chaplain. Naturally, with my charm, I never thought this would happen to me -- until it did.
Not long after his prediction, in the early '90s, I became the chaplain at Houston Northwest Medical Cen... Read on...
God doesn't expect us to handle life's burdens alone
If I hear those words 'God won't give you more than you can handle,' one more time, I think I'm going to scream!" said Amy quite emphatically.
"Take it easy," I said. "Tell me what is going on?"
Amy Johnson is a nurse working in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She explained she hears those words from a lot of peopl... Read on...
Listening begins process of healing
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I was leaving the hospital one afternoon to meet
a colleague for lunch, and I walked by the office
of an obstetrician who performs occasional abortions
... Read on...
Are you smarter than a Sunday school teacher?
To borrow a phrase from Jeff Foxworthy's game show: "Are you smarter than a fifth-grader?" Or at least a fifth-grade Sunday school student?
Let's find out. Today's column is a pop quiz.
It's a closed-book, true-false test. So, take out your pencil. Circle the correct answer.
1. Eve ate the apple Adam... Read on...
Two left feet suffice with God as your dance partner
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We all have days when we miss the dance.
I had one of those days last week, when I refused to dance with my wife at our church's Western day dance.
Becky knows I can't dance, but what she didn't know was that the seeds of my refusal were planted back in junior high during band tryout... Read on...
Sometimes, we must do things
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A phone call interrupted the instructor on my first day of training to become a hospital chaplain. Vickie, David and I were desperately trying to absorb new clinical information.
Our supervisor, Chaplain Timothy Little, explained to the three of us that a "volunteer" was needed to go to the Ne... Read on...
Thank our soldiers -- they've got our backs
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
Last month our family flew to San Diego to see our son, Michael, graduate from Marine boot camp.
After the ceremony and celebration, we drove back to the airport talking about the next two weeks we'd spend with him on leave. At the rental car return, I noticed a clerk eyeing my son in his razor-creased uniform and I offered an unsolicited explanation.
"We're here in S... Read on...
God knows the pain of losing a child
Dear readers: In dealing with parents who lose children, I've often wondered what kind of grief Mary and Joseph might have experienced. The following account is my own fictionalized version of how Mary might have felt in the weeks following the cruci... Read on...
Quality listening easy to preach, very difficult to do
NORRIS BURKES
SPIRITUALTY
Apparently, Ryan Fitzgerald's mom never impressed upon him you shouldn't talk to strangers.
At last count, Ryan's talke... Read on...
Forget the woulda couldas, just live
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That old saying that compares opinions to an individual piece of anatomy came to my mind this week as I listened to a press conference concerning the shootings at Virginia Tech.
It's probably not a good idea to recite the saying in a spiritual column, so let me give you th... Read on...
Celebrate your life when it's your turn to be next
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
I hate to wait in line.
But if I have to wait, I find consolation in the fact that I'll soon hear my favorite word -- "Next!"
This word is music to those who hate to wait. Maybe that's why I love busi... Read on...
Our quest for life's answers never ends
Did you nominate anyone for the American Humanist Association contest last month?
"What contest?" you ask.
If you missed it, you missed your chance to collect the $1,000 finder's fee the AHA awarded to the individual able to "out" the highest ranking atheist.
The winning nominee is a Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) of Fremont. Fremont is a city within the seven-county boundary of the San Francisco Bay area.
I know many of you are saying... Read on...
Like its members, places of worship far from perfect
BY NORRIS BURKES
As a minister, I'm often asked whether I can recommend a local place of worship.
Sometimes the question comes from a new resident who is genuinely looking; other times the question comes from what I call, "hoppers."
Like Easter bunnies, hoppers tend to come in the spring. Hoppers really are just discriminate shoppers looking for a perfect worship place. They want a ... Read on...
'Who's your daddy?' prompts debate about faith
The news of the week begs the question made popular at the end of the 20th century: "Who's your daddy?"
In the Northeast, Al Sharpton is hoping to figure out whether his daddy was related to Strom Thurmond's daddy. In the Southeast, people are claiming to be the daddy of Anna Nicole's baby.
And now James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director who resurrected the Titanic tale is hoping DNA tests, along with statistical analysis, will help sink the Christian claim... Read on...
Father's protective hug can only protect for so long
When my son, Michael, was 22 months old, we fell down a hillside together.
My wife and I were in the process of adopting him, and we decided to take him with us on a weekend retreat to a mountain cabin. One evening, he became a bit fussy, so I wrapped him in a blanket and went for a walk.
As I made my way downhill toward the street, I stopped to rest on a tree stump. Without warning, my foot slipped through the rotten stump.
Sudde... Read on...
We've all gone loony for love
Just in time for Valentine's Day comes the story of Astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak.
In case you haven't heard, this is the astronaut who faces a slew of charges surrounding her alleged pepper-spraying of Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman.
No, this wasn't a friendly fire incident; it is believed to be the result of competing love interest over shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein.
At this time, the police are saying it's a story of "unrequited love." Whether that's a... Read on...
It's hard to see what's right in front of you
"Honey," I said to my wife in that tone I get, "I want us to move to Fort Collins, Colo."
"Is that a military base? Have you been recalled?"
"No," I say with a comforting tone," it's a town in Colorado.
"And why would we move there?"
"Oh, several reasons," I said.
"Name a few," she demanded.
"I have family in Fort Collins."
"Would that be th... Read on...
Checkpoints of life reveal our very souls
At nearly every airport in the country, you'll see dozens of people packing their security items.
Adults carry briefcases, teens carry iPods, and toddlers carry blue blankets while furiously sucking their thumbs.
And right behind them, I'm carrying my security, too. No, I'm not sucking my thumb. But, I do carry my security -- no, ashamedly, it's not always my Bible -- it's my pillow.
My pillow is the last thing I grab when I leave to catch a plane, usually leav... Read on...
Something stinks? It might be you
At a recent staff meeting, my boss tossed white plastic bags on the conference table and asked us to take one.
You may find it odd to hear me say that I have an earthly boss. Even the nurses will point heavenward and mutter something like, "I thought . . . well, you know . . . I thought that he is your boss."
"Yes, but," I'll say with appreciative warmth, "My earthbound boss is Lisa Nordlander, and she's the smartest boss I've ever had, thereby... Read on...
It's what's between life, death that counts most
There's a common question most of us will ask at one time or another.
We ask it in expectation of birth and we ask it in expectation of death.
"Doctor, how much longer?"
The mother in labor may ask the doctor how much longer and perhaps decades later, the child echoes the question while his mother labors to take her final breath.
In both instances, families will assume similar postures as they stand around the bed looking at the patient. Their... Read on...
God gives good reasons to get out of bed
There's an old joke about a woman whose husband overslept for church. She tries to gently wake him, but he is uncooperative.
"Give me three good reasons I should get out of this warm bed," he demands.
"First," she says with folded arms, "I'm your wife and you should respect my wishes."
"Second," she says whispering piously, "God wants you to go to church."
"Finally," she exclaims, "You're the pasto... Read on...
Bad judging could lead to bad juju
If you read my column a few weeks ago, you'll remember I recently obtained a puppy named Chewbacca -- Chewy for short.
I got him last month from a fellow National Guard member, but I forgot to ask the sergeant one question: When was Chewy born?
So during my last drill, I approached the sergeant with that question.
At first the sergeant stammered. Then he blushed. Then he stuttered.
My finely honed chappy-sense was telling me there was some embarrassment... Read on...
Our strength comes from within
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
There's an old saying: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
But the expression begs the question: Where do the "tough" get their spiritual energy to "get going?&q... Read on...
Litany for Forgiveness
There have been times I have found myself talking to the dead.
“Wait a minute!” you say? “I knew this was a spiritual column, but I didn’t think it was THAT kind of spirit.
No worries. I’m not talking about séances; I’m talking about the way we tend to resurrect issues and hurts that are dead and gone.
Read on...
Kids don't always fit the image we have of them
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
Read on...
There's a blessing on those who suffer, but only when it's 'righteous'
Billy Graham owes me a debt, so I'm hoping he's reading this column.
In 1971, Graham preached a crusade in Oakland, Calif. Naturally, as a13-year-old boy who thought he'd follow in Graham's footsteps (I'd already learned to say God with two syllables), I was anxious to help spread the word.
The oppor... Read on...
All signs point to God's love for all of us
If you visit Union Square in San Francisco, Jose Rodriguez likely will greet you with a placard he carries most weekends and holidays: "Jesus Christ Loves You."
Sign carriers such as Jose are not hard to find in San Francisco, but they usually don't announce such positive messages. More often, the signs tend to preach the end of the world or scream for the rights of cross-dressing whale... Read on...
Body Position can affect Heart Position
Chaplain Chris Molnar of the California National Guard spent the last year in prison and he’s learned a thing or two.
No, he wasn’t an inmate. He... Read on...
Truth about lies: They disguise our God-given identity
BY NORRIS BURKES
FLORIDA TODAY
August 12, 2006
This week, Floyd Landis began another uphill journey.
Landis won the Tour De France last month -- a win primarily attributed to his performance in the uphill win of 17th stage of the r... Read on...
Worship's when 2 hands and a paw join together
Toby likes people of all flavors, and I doubt he's ever met a person he hasn't licked.
Toby is a Queensland heeler, a pun not lost on the healing team at the Sutter Senior Center in downtown Sacramento. In 2002, I often conducted a spiritual support group at the center and always looked forward to seeing Toby.
... Read on...
There's no future in a life lived looking backward
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
We all do it.
We see a police car on the side the road and glance down to check our speed. Maybe, like me, you mutter something like, "Uh, oh, copper," and you ease off the accelerator.
Well, that was... Read on...
No need to change, God loves you just the way you are
At 36 years old, 6-foot-5 inches tall, Mike McBride is a bearded, Harley-driving, tattooed, longhaired drummer who got his nickname, "Animal," from the Muppet.
As you might imagine, Mike doesn't look like the stereotypical church type. Yet church is exactly where I met him. In fact, he's a regular drummer in our worship band.
Mike got an early start as a child in his grandfather's church, but he admits it wasn't a nurturing one. "My mom had a rough life, and I had too many ste... Read on...
God gave couple grace to face life with Down syndrome baby
With three health problems, Heather Haskin was told by doctors that she'd never deliver a healthy child.
But Heather "always knew in my heart that I'd be a mommy, so I kept praying and believing." After many prayers and three miscarriages, Heather proved the doctors wrong with the birth of a son, Justus: "One who worships God."
Happy with their new child and marriage of four years, the Haskins turned their attention to raising their child and tending her hu... Read on...
This God knows a thing or two about walking in fire
Editor's note: This column is a fictional adaptation from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 3.
Samuel stared at his work.
Incredible, he thought, the man owns a kingdom and now he believes he can own the hearts of people, too.
Yet Samuel, the king's lead artisan, could still hear the king's words ring in his ears.
"Look at me," King Nebuchadnezzar ordered, "and design a golden likeness of me!"
Sam had built facsimiles for vain desp... Read on...
God's children come from many faiths
I thought I knew the meaning of interfaith, until I met Miguel and Bahar Torrente. They are married to the idea of interfaith.
Bahar is a 32-year-old Iranian-born Muslim. Miguel is a 41-year-old Colombian born Catholic. Both are public high school teachers, and Miguel serves his adopted country as a helicopter pilot in the California Army National Guard.
Six years ago, they were married in a Catholic ceremony followed by Muslim vows at the reception. Two years later, they had ... Read on...
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