Faith and fear: Our choice on the border

  More than 30 faith leaders were arrested Monday for observing the Season of Advent — the pre-Christmas season in which Christians await the arrival of a brown-skinned refugee child known as Jesus. They were among more than 400 protesters who went to our southern border to await other brown-skinned refugees — some of whom, …

Carrying the Light: A reflection on St. Lucy and Thomas Merton

The following was delivered as a sermon for Noonday Prayers, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018 at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Enid, Oklahoma.    What do a 4th Century Italian maiden and a 20th Century Trappist monk from Kentucky have in common? That is an odd question. But, since today falls between feast days, I found myself going …

Grace that won’t be shaken

“'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 Ancient peoples often attributed natural disasters, including earthquakes, to the power of angry gods. Anger the gods, the …

Marijuana dispensaries working to cut cost amid constricted supply

Oklahoma voters passed State Question 788 in June, legalizing the growing, processing and sale of medical marijuana in the state. Supply hasn't yet caught up to demand for the drug, leading to price gouging and some creative efforts by dispensaries to lower costs until market prices stabilize. Enid, Okla. -- Little more than two weeks …

All will pass, except The Word

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Matthew 24:35 We often think of living in two planes: earth in this life; heaven in the next. Jesus calls our attention away from this dichotomy, away from the linear progression from earth to heaven. Jesus calls us to an eternal message that spans …

We need to get back to 41’s finer virtues

  America has been mourning this week — mourning the loss of something far greater than any one man. There is plenty to mourn in the passing of George Herbert Walker Bush. By almost any objective measure, he was a family man of abiding faith who dedicated his life to serving our nation. In his …

Decades later, Atomic Veterans still fighting for benefits

The following is a compilation of a two-part piece on Atomic Veterans -- veterans who were subjected to radiation exposure by government atomic bomb testing -- who still, more than six decades on, are fighting the VA and Department of Justice for benefits and official recognition of their service and sacrifice. ENID, Okla. — Like …

Advent: A time for spiritual housekeeping

There’s a lot of housekeeping this time of year. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, we spend a lot of time tidying up for the arrival of loved ones. But, there’s a different kind of cleaning that is called for this season, for a different kind of loved one. You see, despite the manic gift-shopping and decorating, …

Climate change: Making Earth “bad but manageable” again

I admit it. I like post-apocalyptic drama. If you’ve seen one of these shows, you’ve seen them all. The remnants of humanity end up living in the raped wasteland that’s left of God’s creation, fighting among themselves over dwindling resources. These tales are a dark diversion in movies and the pages of novels. They’re far …