My faithful readers already know that I am a practical joker. Kind of crazy. Nuts, sometimes. That guy. My cell phone rang immediately after my wife called me to supper one evening. I had it up to my ear when I sat down at the table. That irritates Mary a little bit, just as it should. I knew I needed to finish the call, fast. “Hello?” I answered. On the other end of the line was a representative of a propane company. The friendly female voice said, “This is Lydia at WXYZ Propane...

It was a beautiful afternoon. I preached that morning in Deerfield, Missouri. It is a little white church right next to the railroad tracks. We were on our way back to Joplin, Missouri, where I was a student at Ozark Christian College. Our kids were all comfortable in the backseat of our 1965 Dodge Polara. The windows were open and the drive was slow and scenic. “Did you see that?” I asked my wife. She hadn't. I stopped the car and backed up. “Look, kids,” I said. They crowded...

Mary and I visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Mary’s dad and brother had passed through there, at different times, while they were enlisted in the U.S. Navy. We knew the story of Pearl Harbor from our elementary school geography and history classes. It was our second trip to see the memorial. Twice we went to the monument that straddles the sunken hull of the battleship U.S.S. Arizona. It is a stark white structure against the contrast of the deep blue Pacific Ocean. From the observation deck,...