By DANNY MINTON One of my favorite stories at Christmastime is “The Other Wise Man” by Henry van Dyke. It’s the story of Artaban, a man who studied the stars. He and his companions in the east had been studying the stars looking for a sign they had discovered in an ancient book. The sign would signify the birth of
Read moreNancy Patrick at new home in Illinois, far from home, on Christmas 1974. Nancy and her husband, Mike, had just moved to Illinois for Mike’s first pastorate and they were among strangers for the first time. By NANCY PATRICK Every year by Thanksgiving, our society transforms into a charitable, adoring, nostalgic, and sentimental group of people who seem to
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By DAN STIVER There is a story about St. Francis of Assissi where he calls out to an almond tree, “Speak to me of God!” and the almond tree breaks into bloom. Whether or not this happened, it is consistent with St. Francis’ attitude towards this world of nature. He is famous for speaking to wild animals and enjoying nature
Read moreBy DARRYL TIPPENS The week before Christmas in 1999 Madeleine L’Engle, the author of the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time, lost her son, Bion. This was not the first, nor would it be the last, of the great sorrows endured by this gifted author. I caught a glimpse of her challenges when I met her a few months before
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Members of the Key City Jazz Quartet perform Dec. 4 at the Grace Museum to kick off the museum’s Advent Music Series. The second of three concerts will be at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, in the office of the Abilene Philharmonic, located in the base of the Wooten Hotel. Three pianists will perform. Photos by Loretta Fulton The
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By CAROLYN NEWMAN I’ve been thinking and I’ve been told Everyone you meet could be carryin’ a heavy load. So with a handshake, a hug or a smile We can lighten someone’s load for a little while. People in line at stores decked with holly, Looking sad and impatient—’Tis the season to be jolly? All of this rush and this
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON When Kathy and I first got married, we lived in a little house on Orange Street in Abilene. We didn’t have much. She was working for $50 a week at the public relations department at Abilene Christian. I was going to school and working part-time at Gibsons Discount Center. We didn’t have a lot of bills,
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By SARA CORE She just could not be more excited! Sara was so honored to have been chosen the narrator of her third grade class’s Christmas program. She had waited for this day for weeks through many days of work memorizing her lines and rehearsing with the other students. Since this event took place in the 1960s, this meant that
Read moreBy OMER HANCOCK Waiting makes life difficult. Some people have two seasons of the year. One is the Christmas season. The other – waiting for Christmas. Yes, waiting isn’t easy. Threaded throughout the Old Testament and the Intertestamental period (between the Old Testament and the New Testament) God’s covenant people continued to accelerate their hope in waiting for the Messiah, the anointed one, the
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