The Wait, The Wedding, The Wonder

by Kevin Burton    Turns out our ultimate 10th anniversary celebration is not a shout, but a sigh.    You can’t go shouting your way through life all the time. I should have known better by now.     My wife Jeannette and I have been talking about what to do on the big day, which …

Wedding Bells Are Music To My Ears

by Kevin Burton    Songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich were married in 1962. The next year they wrote “Chapel Of Love,” perhaps the most famous pop song about a wedding.    In 1964 The Dixie Cups took Chapel of Love to number one on the Hot 100, where the song enjoyed a three-week honeymoon. …

Can We Count On Our Better Angels?

by Kevin Burton    From Shakespeare to Lincoln to Susan Ashton come thoughts today of “better angels.”    “Better angels of our nature,” was the phrase Lincoln used in his first inaugural address.  That speech was a plea, ultimately ignored, for unity in a nation divided over the issue of slavery.    We think Lincoln …

Love My Good Friends And Fried Chicken

by Kevin Burton    Gonna tell you a funny story, then tell you what it means to me beyond the humor.    My friend Tracy sent me the story.  Not sure where she got it. It is told from the perspective of a school-aged child:    “Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, I …

Cleaning Up My Act In The “Newsroom”

by Kevin Burton    For some reason, the mere act of moving a piece of furniture into my office has jump started my inner neat freak.    My long-somnolent, even comatose neat freak.     There was a mini entertainment center we had in the master bedroom.  My wife said it was broken down and with …

Rock Music Followed Where Fats Domino Led

by Kevin Burton    There is a case to be made for Fats Domino as the main creator of rock and roll, but he rarely gets that credit, or even gets into that conversation.    Yesterday we began to look at why that might be, what causes rock historians to not give him full credit …

Domino Overlooked, Ain’t That A Shame?

by Kevin Burton    The best song I didn’t fit into my Flying Colors series about songs with a color in the title is “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino. This is not the first time he has been overlooked.    His “Blue Monday” did make number 6 on my list, so I didn’t ignore him …

Don’t Grow Weary In Service To Christ

by Dane Massey    (Dane Massey is the former Pastor of Mulvane Christian Church. He is now in ministry in Houston, Texas.)      As I considered this journey of “abiding zeal” I realized something: zeal, passion for Christ must mature as well as be maintained.     This love for Christ cannot be maintained as a …

The Shocker Desk Enjoying A Second Life

by Kevin Burton    The man cave downstairs is certified glorious. I should know, I’m the proprietor and I’m certifiable.    The man cave houses, among other things, the Shocker desk.  And in that Shocker desk, among other things, is a prescription pad.    That I will explain later.    I told you yesterday about …

That Warehouse Look Annoys My Wife

by Kevin Burton    This is going to be harder than I thought, maybe much harder. Home sweet home is getting a makeover.    I have written about my mother’s move to an assisted living facility last summer and the chaos of organizing her new place and fitting new furniture and other things into our …