Out and About Sacramento
A hearty congratulations to our own Norris Burkes, author of Inside’s “Spirit Matters” and the self-syndicated column “Spirituality in Everyday Life,” which appears in 35 papers nationwide. The retired military chaplain is the recipient of the 2019 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award sponsored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.
In his columns, Burkes has written extensively about the humanitarian project Chispa, which sponsors children’s libraries in Honduras and equips them with quality books in Spanish.
Out and About: The Grid
A hearty congratulations to our own Norris Burkes, author of Inside’s “Spirit Matters” and the self-syndicated column “Spirituality in Everyday Life,” which appears in 35 papers nationwide. The retired military chaplain is the recipient of the 2019 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award sponsored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.In his columns, Burkes has written extensively about the humanitarian project Chispa, which sponsors children’s libraries in Honduras and equips them with quality books in Spanish.
Two-Way Street
July is when we celebrate freedoms. For me, few freedoms are as precious as my freedom of religion.
When I served as an Air Force chaplain, I had many conversations about religious freedom. Few went like the one I had with a deputy commander of my base.
She was passing my office and stuck her head in the door. “Watcha doing, Chaplain?” she asked.
I said, “I’m trying to write a prayer for colonel so-and-so’s retirement ceremony, but I’m not getting far.”
Hot Times
This month’s column comes straight out of ancient times. This is wrath-of-God stuff, fire and brimstone, baby, right from the Old Testament cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
You know I’m messing with you. You don’t read this column to get the hellish diatribes made famous by televangelists.
Those preachers often compare the “homosexual debaucheries” of Sodom and Gomorrah with what they see as the decline of America. They use it as a cautionary tale to ban books, define sexes and influence elections.
