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Share your faith with humility
Last month, the Defense Department revealed that Afghan-language Bibles sent to Bagram Air Base by a U.S. church were burned with the daily trash because they possibly could be used to convert Afghans.
The possession of such religious material violates something the military calls General Order No. 1. Out of respect of the local population, the order also prohibits sexual contact and the possession of alcohol.
Regarding proselytizing, General Order No. 1 contains wisdom the av... Read on...
God is in the details, no matter how minor
There is a saying among the medical community: "Minor surgery happens to you. Major surgery happens to me."
This week, I'm recovering from a minor surgery that felt very major.
The surgery corrected a complication from the same surgery - intended to correct my poor peripheral vision - I had back in December.
My ophthalmologist had suggested the surgery, called blepharoplasty, after he noticed I had the eyes of the cartoon character, Jon, Gar... Read on...
Getting to the heart of the matter
When I get a medical checkup, it's important for my doctor to find an audible heartbeat. Otherwise, she's likely to pronounce me dead.
But as a writer, I concern myself with the heartbeat of my words. If people don't hear the heartbeat of my words, they will pronounce my writing dead.
Recently, I've received e-mails that suggest the heartbeat of my column wasn't audible to some. Responding to my column about delivering death notifications to military families, a Battle Creek, ... Read on...
Harrowing landing puts prayers to test
"Brace! Brace! Brace!" called the flight attendants, ordering me and the other 167 service members into the crash position on the flight bringing us home to American soil.
The chartered plane was making its second landing attempt in Baltimore.
During our first attempt, we were coming in for what seemed like a normal landing when our plane suddenly came down hard and skipped back into the air.
<... Read on...
Norris Burkes: Sons, daughters, for the most part, are doing well
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- A few months ago, a reader from Mansfield, Ohio, wrote seeking some reassurance from me that her daughter would do well here at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.
As Mother's Day approaches, it occurs to me that others might also be wondering about the wellbeing of your sons and daughters here.
As one of their many chaplains, I'm in a unique p... Read on...
Good intentions, regardless of results, are rewarded
The Iraqi patient held me in a blank stare as the doctor and I approached the teenager's bed carrying a stack of books.
The books were Qurans. The patient, like most of our Arabic-speaking patients, was Muslim.
The doctor is our bilingual adviser. He was a practicing physician for many years in Iraq, but fled during Sadam's regime. In the United States, he couldn't practice as a physician, so he took varioius... Read on...
Finally, some tears were spilled
Every day at the Air Force Theatre Hospital has been a little different for me. I've had rewarding days. I've had boring days. I've had angry days. I've had indifferent days. I've even had a few happy days.
In the three months I've been here, however, I haven't really had a crying day.
Last week, I finally cried. There had been so many reasons to shed tears on this 120-day deployment, but as precious as water is in the desert, I suppose I thought I needed to conserve them unti... Read on...
Nothing casual about these conversations
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- To counteract the drama of trauma here at the Air Force Theater Hospital, I occasionally try to lighten things up through casual conversations. Nevertheless, casual conversations prove problematic.
For instance, I recently met a soldier bracing himself against a hospital hallway.
"You look a little confused," I casually observed. "Can I help you find something?"
"The dining hall?"
As I pointed him in that ... Read on...
Like soldiers, chaplains are here to serve
As we pulled a family photo from the pocket of one the three soldiers described in my last column as killed-in-action, an airman said, "I can't imagine what it will be like for the people who will notify their families."
I could imagine all too well. In the next few moments, flashbacks filled my mind with the images of the near 25 times I've put on my dress uniform and met a sergeant I didn't know in the middle of a town I'd never visited to deliver the news I never wan... Read on...
Cost of vengeance isn't cheap
The helicopters heading toward the emergency department at our hospital were filled with urgent hope. They knew all wounded arriving to Balad had a 98 percent chance of seeing their families again.
The first person off the helicopter was a young lieutenant who walked to the nurse's station where I was standing. Mistaking me for someone in charge, he urged me to look after his three buddies.
Then he raised his bloodied hand and added, "I think I've got a bullet wound, too.... Read on...
The best and worst of my deployment in Iraq
Many of you have asked me to list the superlative adjectives that best describe my deployment in Iraq. OK, you likely didn't know you were asking for "Superlative Adjectives," but here's my list anyway.
Finest
Several weeks ago, my editors volunteered to print a list of items needed in our Airman Ministry Center called Troy's Place.
Athena Tickner, manager of Troy's Place, reports receiving "hundreds of boxes!"... Read on...
Danger can level the praying field
There are a lot of jokes that start with "A rabbi, a priest and a Baptist minister walk into a bar."
Well, if you subtract the joke part and keep the characters, you'll have the makings of a recent incident here at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.
It started when the Alarm Red sounded, signaling to base residents we were under an indirect fire attack.
It's called indirect because the fire is indiscriminate and random. For all we know, t... Read on...
In a battle zone, relevance is key
Sunday is my favorite day here at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.
It's the day I recharge my spiritual batteries. It's the day traumas miraculously slow enough for 15 hospital staff members to come to the hospital chapel's worship service.
It's hard to describe what chapel service is like 7,000 miles away from home in a faraway land. The people who come seem to leave their pretense beh... Read on...
Enemies need prayer, care, too
"Trauma call, trauma call," announced the hospital speakers at the Air Force Theater Hospital last month.
The call sent a flurry of staff toward the ER where we commonly see patients of all kinds: U.S. service members, civilians and even enemy combatants. No matter who arrives for treatment... Read on...
Soldiers pray for each other in battle
As the chaplain at the Air Force Theater Hospital here at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, I often ask wound... Read on...
A glint of hope amid war's chaos
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- "What do you do during your shift?" asked a surgeon over a plate of chili macaroni.
My mind drifted over the past three days here at the Air Force Theatre Hospital in Balad.
The first day started with my visit to an Iraqi boy who was burned over most of his body from playing with matches and fuel.
"They don't know 'stop, drop and... Read on...
Finding humor on deployment helps sanity
During my first month in Balad, Iraq, my columns have been pretty serious.
But I want to remind myself, and others, that lighter moments exist. It is these moments that remind us that a little laughter in our heart will help keep the sanity in our brains.
In that spirit, I offer this heavily edited version of a column written during my first deployment in early 2001 to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Never before published, it's called "The Hat Full." It come... Read on...
Tears from battle are different
BALAD, IRAQ -- I've been at the Air Force Theatre Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, for the past month, and I still can't get used to people bringing their M-16's or M9 Berettas to chapel.
They can be a bit intimidating. After all, what might someone do if they didn't like my sermon?
However, it's not always their guns that intimidate me. Sometimes it's their tears.
They can be inti... Read on...
Tears and near beer honor a fallen patriot
It's amazing how normal we try to make things on a base with more than 25,000 people.
Here at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, we have hot showers, movie theaters, swimming pools, vehicles and chapels, not to mention dining halls that make the local Hometown Buffet look like a soup line.
Many of our patients have the normal scope of medical issues: broken appendages, infections, flu and appendicitis.
It would be easy to cruise along on the surfac... Read on...
Beginnings are difficult, especially in Iraq
Beginnings can be challenging. My beginning at Joint Base Balad Iraq this month brought its share of challenges.
First of all, getting off a military aircraft at 3 a.m. dressed in full body armor had its challenges for a 50-something chaplain. My back ached, and sleep in the droning C-130 aircraft had been scarce.
Overhead, balls of fire launched from an adjacent runway and thu... Read on...
I don't when some couples seek 'I do'
This is the time of year when many couples decide to get married. When they do, they often call a member of the clergy.
This week, as I was sharing some of the more -- shall we say -- wedding requests I've received, someone suggested that I write them in a column.
"OK," I said. "The column might seem a bit random, but I ha... Read on...
Chaplain's Iraq order brings 2nd thoughts
I have anxiously anticipated them for months, and they finally arrived a few weeks ago: my deployment orders.
The orders direct me to leave home the day after Christmas to go to Balad Air Base in Iraq and serve as its hospital chaplain for the next 120 days.
With the orders came the inevitable feeling of "What have I done?"
I think I'm in good company asking the question. Jesus expressed a r... Read on...
It's the season to give -- of yourself
By the time I was 13, our Christmas became more about a way to dole out necessities such as socks, underwear and pajamas than about surprises.
By my mid-teens, our family stopped buying Christmas trees. Giving was limited to the exchange of single gifts of necessity on Christmas Eve.
Since many of my childhood Christmases were likely celebrated a little above poverty level, my wife says I shouldn't mention them in a holiday column. She remembers a different kind of Christmas. ... Read on...
Military spouses also have to 'volunteer'
Veteran's Day gives me a lot to think about every year.
This Vete... Read on...
Tell me what you're praying for
How many times a day are you asked the question, "How are you?"
Each time you're asked, you likely respond, "fine."
Really? Are you always fine?
We go to church, support groups or mother's house for Thanksgiving and proclaim that we are fine. Then we turn to the next person to repeat the question.
What a coincidence. Everyone is fine.
Recently, I've begun substituting that question with a new one.
This past week, I challenged audie... Read on...
We can love the most unlovable people
I heard her crying through the walls of our hospital chapel.
Since my office was next door, I often heard pulsing sobs uncontainable by the chapel wall.
As I stood, pushing my chair away from my desk, I wondered what I would find this time. Would it be a mother crying for her child in surgery?
Would it be someone bargaining with God to save an alcoholic partner? Or would it be a community member praying for an errant child?
I'd seen all of these... Read on...
'Love Dare' a challenge every couple should take
How hard should you try to get someone to love you?
That was the question I asked myself recently when I stayed in the home of Pastor David Daniels and his wife Charlene.
Don't get me wrong. The Daniels showed me plenty of love by hosting me during my speaking engagements in Elmira, N.Y., this month. Charlene served me wonderful meals while David got me to my various engagements on time.
Bailey was the one I had trouble with. He never warmed up to me. A few times he came ... Read on...
'Gu-ahhd' says find your voice and use it
It was offered to me when I was a 19-year-old ministerial student at Baylor University after preaching in a rural Texas church.
I'm not exactly sure what I said during my 30-minute assignment, but given my youth, I probably stuck to the most profound theological truths like neo-Kierkegaardian Existentialism. And that was likely just the warm-up as I moved into dealing with the problem of evil in the world and God's plan for Africa.
Honestly, it would be hard to recall what my to... Read on...
Faith will prevail in trying times
If you're picking up this newspaper, you've likely noticed the headlines: Everything is worse than you thought.
The mortgage crisis, still worse. The AIDS epidemic, growing worse. Global warming, far worse. Gas prices, unimaginably worse. Even the air at the Olympics, horribly worse.
The last guy who tried this hard to scare me was Hal Lindsey. He co-authored a 1970 runaway best seller with Carole C. Carlson titled "Late, Great Planet Earth."
Many people saw Lin... Read on...
Turn deaf ear to whispers of hatred
As Jim Adkisson awaits trial on first-degree murder charges in Knoxville, Tenn., from rampage in the liberal Unitarian Universalist church last month, many of us struggle to understand where that hatred comes from.
The truth is, it comes from liberals and conservatives. It's contagious. People don't get that way by themselves.
Hate comes as an individual thought. Then, it's whispered in the ear of another. Sometimes, the whisper is rebuffed by the brave, and hate thankfully dies... Read on...
Are you Interested in Norris Burkes Speaking to your organization?
If you are interested in having Chaplain Norris speak to your organization, church, or library, please contact him at Read on...
Soda-free promise hard to keep
During our drive home from Fort Collins, Colo., earlier this month, I made a deal with my youngest child, Nicole.
After watching me guzzle diet sodas at every gas station across five states and then frantically racing to the next rest area, I heard a voice from the back seat. From the proverbial mouths of babes, Nicole said, "Dad, you shouldn't drink so much diet soda."
"Yes, honey, I know," came my patronizing response.
"If you'll stop drinking s... Read on...
The ABCs of prayer are elementary
Sometimes when I pull my bedcovers to my chin, I find that the worries of the day come back for an encore. Not only are my thoughts destructive to my sleep, but they tend to disturb the clean-conscience sleep of the woman in bed with me.
When this happens, I turn to what I call my ABC prayers. The prayers follow the Jewish tradition of acrostic prayers: Each word in the prayer starts with a consecutive letter of the alphabet. It... Read on...
God has three ways to help us
July 5, 2008
God has three ways to help us
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
Occasionally, when someone asks me how I'm doing, I jokingly reply, "Upright and ambulatory."
It's a health care expression describing a patient who is regaining his strength to walk after ... Read on...
God has a message: Nobody's perfect
My wife, Becky, teaches fourth grade, and she'll tell you her students don't always give the right answers.
She's firm with the children, but she makes room for grace. She forgives some misspelled words because she says it's more important to get the facts right, unless, of course, those misspellings affect accuracy.
For instance, she once quizzed her class to name the group of California-bound settlers who turne... Read on...
Political Manners Have a Place
I guess this column is more questions than answers.
When you hear someone omit or change their remarks because it might be offensive to other faiths or cultures, do you dismiss that speaker as "just being politically correct?"
I hear that label tossed around alot. I hear it said when someone wishes an audience "Happy Holidays" or when a Christian speaker omits the words "in Jesus' name" from a public prayer.
Read on...
God isn't a quitter
Last month, Sen. Barack Obama wrote his pastor, the Rev. Otis Moss III, and announced that he and his wife, Michelle, were quitting Trinity United Church of Christ.
I have an inkling of what Moss and Obama might be feeling. I've been both a parish pastor and a congregant. As a congregant, I've struggled with staying in one place, and as a pastor I heard more than one congregant threaten to quit.
One man promised ... Read on...
Aloha from Hawaii
I've spent the past two weeks of May deployed on Hawaii's island of Kauai with the California Air National Guard 149th Combat Communications Squadron.
Predictably, most of my friends reacted to my deployment news with a sarcastic, "That must be tough duty."
"Hey," I jokingly responded, "Hawaii was attacked once, and we must remain prepared."
The truth is we had a serious mission: practice setting up communicatio... Read on...
Getting to know God is like a courtship
The first time I met my wife, she had just stepped from the shower wearing a towel.
Wait, that's going to need some explaining; this is a family column.
After our high school graduation, we took a summer job working at a conference center in New Mexico. My mother was visiting and recognized Becky's last name as one belonging to my father's former seminary classmate.
"You went to kindergarten with this girl!" my mother exclaimed. "Have you met her?" ... Read on...
A FATHER CARRIES ON
A FATHER CARRIES ON
As a chaplain in the Air National Guard, I’ve knocked on at least 25 doors to share the regrets of the nation that a loved one has been lost in this current conflict. I’ve seen a lot of varied reaction.
However, Pastor Marc Unger’s reaction to the news of his son’s death is especially unique.
When the death notification team arrived at Marc and Lynda Unger’s home on May 25, 2004, they recounted how Army Infantry Sp... Read on...
Be content with who you are
Last week, I wrote about the prayers that get a "No" answer.
This week, let me confess that there are two prayers for which I feel some shame for praying.
The first prayer starts off with, "God, please make me like this man." I pray this prayer when I hear from friends such as Cecil Murphy, who tells me his New York Times best-selling book, "90 Minutes in Heaven," just surpassed 3 mi... Read on...
Sometimes God Just Says "No"
Sometimes we proclaim that God answers prayer, but we are unwilling to accept that God's answer can be "no."
This week as I visited Florida's Space Coast to talk to churches, hospitals and bookstores, I recalled that "No-go" was an answer I sometimes heard during my days at Canaveral Air Station, where I served as a chaplain at the Cape from 1999 to 2001.
As a formal member of the launch crew,... Read on...
When things are too painful, we find a detour
When I was a 22-year-old Seminary student, I was just cocky enough to believe the world would go to hell if I didn't do my part to detour them to heaven.
 Read on...
Guilty post confessions on Web site
Recovery programs often use the saying -- "You're only as sick as your secrets."
My pastor, Barry Smith of Impact Community Church in Sacramento, is betting that's true, and he's encouraging people to get well by confessing their secrets via an anonymous Web postings at www.mysecrets.cc.
The site is self-rated as PG-13 a... Read on...
Spiritual journey takes a detour, but still under God's direction
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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.
With great expectation that... Read on...
Having a potty mouth could be a form of prayer
BY NORRIS BURKES
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
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."
Th... Read on...
Changes Ahead
As a teenager growing up in '60s era Detroit, Jim Wallis voiced a question: "Why was life in the white neighborhood so different from black Detroit just a few miles away?"
As he found some answers inside the church his parents pioneered, his questions increased exponentially.
Why, he wondered, had he never heard black preachers? Why was there so much hatred between the races?
He remembers church members squelching his questions.
Cosmic Butt Kicking is All We Need
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.
What could she possibly do for the horrendous pain in my butt?
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.
"Bruised tai... Read on...
Thou shalt not use God's name for gain
Did you ever go somewhere you simply weren't wanted?
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.
"Get out of here!" he commanded. "My mama ain't gonna die!"<... Read on...
Sharing faith must begin with respect
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 sp... Read on...
Don't Measure Your Worth by Money or Time
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 make ... Read on...
Do You Hear What I Hear?
I keep hearing voices.
I know they aren't real, but if I ignore them, I do so at my own peril.
Ironic voices: Last week, I heard a computerized voice from the store whose technicians dress like Mormon missionaries.
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 . . ."
Finally it sputtered,... Read on...
Being Alone With Oneself is an Art
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.
Today, I continue with the "You-never-call-me-by-my-name" sa... Read on...
Your Life Doesn't Have a Waiting Room
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.
In... Read on...
These Questions Challenge your Souls
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.
Do you have a spirituality, religion or church? Recen... Read on...
These Questions Challenge your Souls
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.
Do you have a spirituality, religion or church? Recen... Read on...
Carry on '07 Spiritual advice into New Year
BY BY NORRIS BURKES
FLORIDA TODAY
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," a... 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 asked... 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 as ... 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.
Le... 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 the C... 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 into a... 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 certaint... 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 him wi... 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've fo... 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 stopp... 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 the ... 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 Natio... 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 with ... 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 by th... 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 and ... 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 do ... 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 us ... 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 to... 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 hawkers... 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 in ... Read on...
Let her cry and truth, healing follow
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 Center. One morning, I was... 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 people ... Read on...
Listening begins process of healing
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 for medical reasons.
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 ga... 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 tryouts. ... 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 Neonata... 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 San D... 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 crucifixio... 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 talked to mor... 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 the Nor... 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 businesses... 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, &qu... 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 youth... 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 th... 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.
Suddenly, ... 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 accur... 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 the uncle ... 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 leaving ... 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 ma... 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 glan... 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 pastor, a... 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 surr... 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?"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 opportuni... 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 whales.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 was ... 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 race. ... 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 prett... 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 step-... 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 husb... 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 despots in... 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 a ... Read on...
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