By NANCY PATRICK Recognizing that the twenty-first century world differs greatly from the world I grew up in, I confess that I would find today’s school systems difficult to navigate. In the 1950s and 1960s during my school years, we respected teachers as role models in our society. I fearfully admired my teachers and would never have disobeyed them or

By NANCY PATRICK For many years my husband and I did not lose any close family members to death. In my early sixties, I still had both my parents and both in-laws. The closest relatives I had lost were my grandparents. That status quo began shifting during my late fifties. My parents began having multiple health issues, including cancer for

By NANCY PATRICK Today’s world seems much bigger than it did in my childhood. Not everyone shares that opinion because the world today allows people anywhere in the world to see and talk to each other in real time, thus creating the illusion that the world is smaller. Because of this new connection we share with people all over the

By NANCY PATRICK I have recently mentioned that my church, First Baptist Abilene, has an interim pastor while the church seeks a new senior pastor to fill the position vacated by Dr. Phil Christopher last fall. Our interim, Dr. Matt Cook, works for an organization called The Center for Healthy Churches. Among many aspects of church needs, the Center helps

By NANCY PATRICK I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the needs all around me. I truly want to help those in need, but I sometimes have ambiguous feelings about the people themselves and the needs they have.  Rescue the Animals frequently sponsors a clearing the shelters campaign in which the centers try desperately to find forever homes for animals in their

By NANCY PATRICK As I pondered the subject for my next article, I was also reading a Louise Penny novel entitled The Beautiful Mystery. Penny has a popular detective series starring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his second-in-command, Inspector Jean-Guy Beauvoir. They work for the Sûreté du Québec station in La Mauricie, Canada, the Provincial Police Station of Quebec. This

By NANCY PATRICK I had a weird thought the other day about the many issues people face these days: human rights, unjust wars, dirty politics, dangerous politics, climate change, uncontrolled viruses, racial injustice, family violence, mass shootings, and on it goes. What a depressingly overwhelming list of concerns! The list brings to my mind the Serenity Prayer that my interim

By NANCY PATRICK How many times have I watched an individual whom I consider “handicapped” or “disadvantaged” do an ordinary task that I do every day and think, “I could never have accomplished that”? I know I can’t count the number. Evidently, sightless people can live alone, play the piano, learn to wire acoustic devices, and practice law. Deaf people