One morning in Sunday School class, members were requesting prayer for those who were facing trials and tribulations. Solemnly, Billy, our teacher, nodded at each, then asked if there were more. After a couple of minutes of silence, I raised my hand and smiled.

“I have a praise report.”

He grinned. “Okay.”

“I have a new baby calf.” I shuddered with the excitement of a child as laughter sprinkled across the class. Someone did not laugh. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Read More»

As bad as it might sound, I have a couple of friends for whom I pray that they will outlive their spouses. The reason is simple: I want to see them have peace and happiness on this earth.

All long-term marriages have ups and downs because that’s the way of life. Sometimes it’s hilly, sometimes it’s smooth and flat. The difference is when relationships are sustained through love and good humor over grim determination. Some people, I believe, stay married to each other just out of meanness, not love. They just don’t want to see the other happy and content. Read More»

“This is none of my business,” I said aloud to myself in a valiant, noble effort to mind my own business.

But has that ever stopped me. Nope.

“I am not getting into the middle of this mess,” I continued.

Do I ever listen to myself in these moments of reprimand? Nope.

“People actually buy books and newspapers for your advice,” myself said to myself. “Surely there’s benefit in what you have to say, for the opinion you have to offer.”

Should that make any difference in whether I speak my mind for free? Whether I offer advice which I regard as sterling and sage? Nope. Read More»

It is true that I have a nice, comfortable office, arranged with all a writer needs for inspiration, including French doors that open onto a balcony which overlooks the front pasture.

Dixie Dew loves to lie there while I work. I myself often enjoy standing on it and admiring the beauty of the black Angus cattle as they chomp away determinedly at the grass or lounge lazily by the creek bank. Read More»

Not too long ago, a friend of mine discovered rather abruptly and rudely that he had dated a crazy woman. Now, in the South, we’re used to such. It’s actually a common practice. But west of the Mississippi, it’s a bit different.

He was bewildered. “She didn’t seem crazy. She seemed normal.”

I laughed. Remember: I’m Southern so I have a lot of experience with crazy. “See, that’s the problem,” I counseled him. “Crazy can hide itself so well that you don’t see it for a long time. Matters like this require expert supervision. You should have called me.” Read More»

Until the day he died, Daddy had one prayer about his children that he prayed constantly. Probably every day of his life.

He did not, like many parents, daily beseech the good Lord to protect us or to give us wealth or happy lives. Instead, his most diligent prayer was always, “If any of ‘em get to flyin’ too high, oh, Lord, just clip their wings. Teach ‘em a thing or two, dear Lord, if they fly too high and forget you. Let ‘em fall so they’ll find you again.” Read More»

You know how it happens. You go to the funeral home to pay respects and run into people you haven’t seen in ages. Many years have passed but yet y’all begin telling stories – always the funny ones – and, there in the midst of grief, you begin to laugh. Read More»

One morning, I received an email from a reader who began by explaining that her 81-year-old mother was a devoted reader of this column and my books. Read More»

One night I was doing an appearance in a town where this column runs. A woman waited in line to speak to me and brought a clipping of that week’s column for me to sign.

She handed me the newspaper clipping and said, “You made a mistake.” She pointed to it and said, “You used the wrong word.” Read More»

It wasn’t long ago that a friend of mine – a West Coaster no less – got onto the subject of country music. Some he likes, some he doesn’t, he said. Then, he laughed and recalled one that he had recently encountered.

Somehow, he had run across the country classic, “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town.” A bit condescending, he chuckled over its lyrics. He had gotten the title wrong and most of the lyrics but I knew what he was talking about.

“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed. “That’s one of the great story songs of all times. It’s a classic and certainly not anything to scoff at.” Read More»