My mother wisely said, You need to spend a little time with your Dad. I was on vacation at my parents’ home in Midland, Texas. My dad was approaching his 90’s. His health was faltering. Caring for him was difficult for mom, sometimes very hard. Nevertheless, her belief was unshakable. Pills, treatments and doctor visits can’t have the last word...

A few days before I received Holy Orders (September 12, 1992), my altar servers surprised me with cards they created for the occasion. On the front cover of his hand-made card, John Cruickshank drew a picture of the sun shining over the world. Prefacing his card with “God said, ‘Let there be light’”  [Gen 1:3], he penned a remarkable theology of the priesthood: THE WORLD needs a light to guide it through both good and bad times. A light to keep us true to the one true God above. The light is the clergymen. Richard, when you become ordained, you become that light: to keep our mind, body, soul, and spirit true to God. Are you ready for this Richard? If not, don't worry. Pray and God will help you.

A beautiful round “ball and claw” dining table graced the kitchen area of my West Texas childhood home. Here we ate our meals, told stories and did homework. And occasionally got into trouble. My parents bought the antique table in 1961 from an elderly woman selling things out of her house in Creede, Colorado. Years later I suspected she sold her own furniture to pay bills.