Thinking Critically . . . Acting Faithfully
Bill Jones muses about Baptists, faith, ethics, justice, politics . . . and more
Personal reflections and musings
(Scroll down for links to my previous 8 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) Joanna passed away 9 months ago today on Feb. 14. Somehow, the days, weeks, and months keep moving along, and I keep half-expecting to see Joanna “reappear” around every corner I turn, even though I know that’s not going to Read more . . .
Forty years ago tonight – October 7, 1981, Joanna and I were celebrating my promotion to management as a supervisor with Mountain Bell Telephone Company in Denver. It was an exciting time, a meaningful achievement. So how did I get to that point? When I was in college, being a manager/supervisor with the phone company Read more . . .
(Scroll down for links to my previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) It’s been 7 months since I lost the love of my life, and it isn’t getting any easier – for me or my kids and grandkids. Some have said that grief is a weird thing, in that it affects us in Read more . . .
(Scroll down for links to my previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) September 4, 1976, 3 p.m., University Baptist Church, Shawnee, Oklahoma. Joanna and I were married 45 years ago today. We couldn’t have imagined last year, when we ate out at Sushi Marquee to celebrate our 44th anniversary, that it would be Read more . . .
(Scroll to the end for links to my previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) For the past few months, our church’s parish nurse has been sending me a series of books about grief. The third in that series arrived today. In the letter accompanying it, she urged me to grieve at my own Read more . . .
On August 5, 1921 – 100 years ago today – Harold Arlin of Pittsburgh’s KDKA Radio took a box seat behind home plate in Forbes Field and became the first radio baseball broadcaster, EVER! He called play-by-play of the game between the Pirates and their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. To read The History Channel’s Read more . . .
(Scroll down for links to my previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) Friends who have lost their longtime spouses through death tell me it eventually gets easier . . . but only with the passage of time . . . years, in some cases. Daddy lived 10 years after Mother passed away. I Read more . . .
EDITOR’S NOTE: George Mason preached this sermon on July 4, 2004, the first time Joanna and I visited Wilshire Baptist Church (we soon became members). Our previous church had given itself over completely to nationalistic fervor on patriotic holidays – America first, Jesus . . . we’ll get back to you next week. George’s sermon Read more . . .
(Scroll to the end for links to my previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.) My mind has gone a thousand places in the 4 months since Joanna passed away on February 14. I cry every day, some days several times. Sometimes it happens when I start thinking of the places we went together, Read more . . .
I remember it well – pretty well, anyway. I was in 4th grade. As I arrived at Spring Valley Elementary School that morning (Dallas, TX, but in the Richardson School District), May 5, 1961, I joined the throng of students on the covered walkway just outside the school, huddled around a small black-and-white TV, watching Read more . . .