Feature Columnists

Looking at the Bible through the lens of Mother's Day brings several women into the spotlight. Women such as Eunice instilled the gospel into her son, Timothy, Paul's protege in ministry. Women such as Elizabeth, whose son, John the baptizer, prepared the way for the Lord. Women such as Mary, the...

I love the readings that take place after Easter, readings following the development of the early Church in the Book of Acts. They are stories about connection and community and amazement at the ways we need each other. They remind us none of us are meant to go through this life alone...

A walk in the Southeast Missouri woods during April can be full of surprises. Patches of beautiful wildflowers are enough to please any wandering soul, but there is more to discover. April 26 was a cool, windy day. It was not a good day to focus a camera on flowers that move in the wind. I was...

Spring? Yes! It seems I see the evidence of spring everywhere I glance. I see it in the environment exhibiting its beautiful displays of natural beauty. I feel spring in the air, and my step agrees. My feet hit the ground like a playful rubber ball, bouncing up and down as fast as I touch a...

A person ought to be judicious before taking a tutorial in morality and ethics from a TV show. Nevertheless, a recent episode of NBC's "The Blacklist" got me thinking about how each of us decides how far to pursue the things we want. Episode 14 of season 8 is a case in point...

The flowers pictured here are from the native paw paw tree. I found dozens of paw paw trees sporting hundreds of blooms in a Scott County woodlot April 12. This image shows two blossoms on the same limb. The green one is beginning to burst open and will turn purple like the other one that is a few...

We see God move in our lives, not when we try to do more and be more. We see God move in our lives when we surrender to him. One of the most outstanding examples of a surrendered life is Abraham. In Genesis 12:1 -- 3, Abraham, Abram at the time, demonstrated a heart of surrender. His demeanor...

The other week at youth group, we were talking about fear and reading Matthew 14:22-32, the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water. One of the students observed the apostles are at first "terrified" because they have mistaken the identity of the figure walking toward them; they think it is a...

This is a wildflower called Columbine. Its flower is said to resemble an eagle's claw, but I think it resembles a jester's cap. The Columbine plant is toxic to animals, and deer will not eat it. Usually a single plant will grow about 2 feet tall, but it can be taller. It can be found growing in...

On Sunday, my wife, Lois, and I took temporary possession of Brutus, an 80-pound pit bull mix, after an exchange in a parking lot off Exit 95 in Cape Girardeau. A mellow, level-headed boy, Brutus rode contentedly in our SUV, licking Lois' face repeatedly as the three of us trundled north on...

Does letting go of the unpleasant mean we are weak, practice avoidance or we're cowards? Are we afraid to face things head on, so we pretend that all is well, while cowering in the corner and brooding, secretly? Are we stopped in our tracks and feeling too sorry for ourselves to move forward?...

I will confess to being something of a fan of Albert Einstein. The legendary German-born scientist died in New Jersey 66 years ago this weekend, on April 18, 1955. His views on faith matters are deferred to later in this column because the reader should, in my mind, be appreciative of Einstein's...

The book "Cultivate: The Process of Living From Your Heart" by Cageless Birds opens with this prayer: "On the shores of my soul, I give you permission." These words are written underneath a photograph of feet in the water on the shoreline at a beach, standing in the space in the sand where the edge...

Is Easter important in your life? Do you understand the changes Easter brought to everyone on that day when Jesus rose from the dead? It seems it's often difficult to relate the things of the Bible to our lives. Sometimes we learn about the various happenings in the Bible and relate them to a...

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -- John Lennon (1940-1980), lyrics to the song, "Beautiful Boy." The epigram above is not found in the Bible, but the words usually find their way into funeral services I'm privileged to officiate or in my teaching at Southeast or...

The Dutchman's Breeches is one of the most unusual spring flowers to be found in Southeast Missouri. Each white flower has an opening at the bottom surrounded by yellow curls. The top of the flower looks like the legs of pantaloons stretching outwardly as if hanging from a clothesline...

"Why do you seek the living among the dead?" Angels asked of the women who came to the tomb of Jesus that first Easter morning (Luke 24:5). There are three actions taken from this question. First, the question calls for an investigation. Luke describes two men in dazzling apparel, angels, observing...

Wind. It's blowing on us as we stand at a ridge on the trail overlooking trees that aren't green yet and beyond, where buildings would be if we could see them. The trees are leafless, the trunks still straight lines of brown raising themselves into the air. The Tennessee dirt is beneath us, rocks...

This photo shows the early leaf excitement of a red buckeye tree. In the burst of green leaves at upper right is a light whitish green cluster of flower buds. Temperatures well into the 60s and 70s within the next 10 days or so will have these little buds turning to red flowers...

Would you like it if you had everything as you want it? Are you tired of people who disagree with your opinion? What if everybody agreed with your opinion? You feel as if you're right, anyway. This view may sound absurd, but although people don't always voice their inner feelings, many can't...

From my mid-30s and into my late 50s, I had the privilege of pastoring senior citizens: first in a church environment and later in a retirement community. I thought then, and do now, seniors are the most interesting folks alive. When a person has been many times around the sun, has seen many moons...

As the recent February snow piled up and extremely cold air poured into Southeast Missouri, non-hibernating wild animals were hard pressed to find food. Shown here is a native gray squirrel that found a walnut. I had braved the cold on this afternoon and so did the squirrel. I saw it drop the...

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, St. Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing." As I've grown, I've come to realize more and more deeply this means thinking about prayer not so much as something I do, but as something I am called to become. We are to become prayer. This is how, by our very being, we can pray...

My family and I were returning home from a quick road trip at the end of February when much to our surprise we encountered the snow moon. The moon, fully exposed, was in a stunning bright orange radiance. The snow moon was centered over the highway. Driving uphill, we felt that we were going to...

Mourning cloak is a strange name for anything, but that is what this butterfly is called. It is also sometimes called the grand surprise butterfly. A surprise is what I got Sunday morning, March 7, when I saw this butterfly flying. The temperature was barely 60 degrees...

I read these words of C.S. Lewis: "The most basic lesson that all art teaches us is to stop, look and listen to life on this planet, including our own life" Lewis goes on to say that "life is far more mysterious than we would suppose. If we are to love God, we must first stop, look, and listen for...

Folks who identify as Christian are once again enmeshed in the annual navigation of the 40-day period of sober reflection known as Lent. In my former years of pastoral ministry, I described Lent, which has no New Testament authorization but is regularly practiced in many traditions, including my...

Heavy rain the night of Feb. 27 left everything in the woods wet and muddy. But more than that, every gully in the hills was pouring water. As the rain was slowing during the morning, I knew the little waterfalls would last for only a few hours. I believe the little waterfalls are among the most...

Recently I received a copy of my distant grandfather's immigration papers. He arrived in the United States from Prussia in 1854. I have relished having a copy of this piece of my family's history. Of the many things this copy of immigration papers means, it also is a stark reminder of how my life...

The snow had drifted in places up to a foot, and I hadn't gone to work all week. Now, it was Friday, we planned to celebrate one of my coworkers' birthdays, and I wanted to be there. Even though the driveway was snowed shut, I didn't think it would be a problem. The night before, my dad had told me...

The morning I took this photo the temperature was 6 degrees above zero. During the night, it had fallen to -2 degrees. I found a starling laying in the snow frozen to death, and I wondered why more little birds had not suffered the same fate. How their tiny toes keep from freezing solid is a marvel...

Does being content with what you have mean you have no motivation to make more of yourself? Does it mean to stay stuck in a rut, to flee from trying for bigger and better successes? Those are questions we've all experienced. I first pondered how content I should be with what I have when COVID-19...

At the time this column was written several days ago, Southeast Missouri was enmeshed in its biggest snowstorm in years. Many of us have heard the sound of scraping shovels, and we've heard squealing children enjoying sled rides this past week. How welcome the white stuff is somewhat dependent on...

Snow can make the difference when it comes to a good winter photo or an average one. A woodland ridge top will often offer a nice photo opportunity. On Feb. 14, the sunrise temperature was 4 degrees above zero in my neighborhood of Southeast Missouri. I was able to get this photo before the...

In 1989, I took Rush Limbaugh's radio show off the air in St. Louis. It was the worst professional decision I ever made. In August of that year, I became operations manager of KXOK Radio, the AM radio station with the best daytime signal in the area and was given a mandate by ownership to convert...

Last Saturday evening, it snowed into the night. The next morning it had stopped snowing and about 2 inches of snow lay on the ground. The temperature was about 12 degrees, and the sun was rising, when I went looking for something to photograph. I followed fox tracks across a pond levee and down...

Maria Shriver, in her book "I've Been Thinking ... Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life" writes our world is yearning to be mothered; we need mothering on a large scale. "All of the world's children -- young and old -- are looking to be loved, accepted, nurtured, soothed and...

The difference between "married" and "marred" is the letter "i." The word marred means to damage, spoil, disfigure, or scar. The word married evokes images of love, happiness, pleasure and family. One little "i" makes a tremendous difference In every relationship, especially in marriage, the "i"...