The cathedral in Florence, Italy, or the Duomo, known around the world, was begun in 1296, seven hundred and thirty years ago. The baptistry of this cathedral is where Dante was baptized. Makes us feel rather young. Auburn First Baptist is less than two hundred years old. And the wealthiest family in Florence at the…
I was very fortunate to have known my great-grandparents. My great-grandfather lived to be 94 years old. He wore these black-rimmed glasses that were about a half inch thick. They looked like the old bottoms of Coke bottles. And my great-grandmother lived to be 98. Every day they would sit down around that kitchen table…
I don’t like the cold. I don’t like mixed textures in my food. I don’t like to feel my own sweat on my body. I don’t like being late. I don’t like funerals. I don’t like to ask people for help. I don’t like being wrong. I don’t like feeling like I’m on the outside.…
Also watch the 2026 Claude H. and Mary Virginia Moore lecture: Good morning. Thank you to Pastor Martin for the invitation to be with you today. Thank you all for your good hospitality. Let us pray. Bless the Lord, O my soul. God, you stretch out the heavens like a tent. You water the earth…
The summer after I graduated from college, I worked as an interim youth pastor before starting seminary. And I will never forget opening up the door and sitting behind the wheel of the church’s 15 passenger van that was older than I was. And that said something concerning both about the van and about me.…
James Martin talks about all the jobs that he had before his vocation as a Jesuit priest. And it’s a long list. He was a busboy, dishwasher, golf caddy, movie usher, factory worker, bank teller, and an accountant. And when he was a movie usher at the Plymouth Meeting Mall where all the teenagers used…
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is a logistical marvel. They help 100 million passengers travel every year. They handle 275,000 passengers a day. They employ 60,000 people. It’s a logistical marvel, unless you are the one traveling. Because then you just want to make sure your plane shows up on time. And there’s so much to stress…
In a letter to his brother, Vincent van Gogh wrote, “A good deal of light falls on everything.” And when we are standing there in a hallway of a museum looking at a beautiful masterpiece, there is so much to notice and see that does not initially jump off the canvas. If we stand there…
Jason McElwain was 17 years old. He was the manager of his high school basketball team at Greece Athena High School. And he has autism. And on February 15th, 2006, his basketball team was playing for the division title. It was also senior night and rumors were going around that the coach might put J-Mac,…
I met a traveler at a train station and he was carrying this very large bag. Too large to even fit on the train. It was three times the size that he was. It must have weighed 500 pounds. I don’t know how he had the strength to even carry it around and I couldn’t…