OUR CHANGING WORLD

 

Ouida went with me on a speaking engagement in San Antonio during the summer. We did the river walk and dined on a canal boat with a host of business friends, many of whom have a strong Christian commitment. Grandson Ashley, now 10, flew with the two of us on another speaking date in Tampa, where we bathed in the Gulf and dined on lobster. It was something to see Ashley attack a whole boiled lobster with all the extras. He gathered shells along the shore.

I should inform you that Ouida, as might be expected, captured the Alamo while we were in San Antonio, the first time no doubt since those brave Texans yielded it back in 1836. While I was doing something else, she went to the Alamo, only a block from our hotel, and when she stepped inside the officials immediately evacuated the place. She came up with some kind of story about the air-conditioner fouling up the air, but I am suspicious that there was more to it than that. Remember the Alamo!

In July, Ashley and I left grandmother home and went to the Ozarks by ourselves, which he and/or I have done for seven years in a row. Our dear friends and hosts. Dr. and Mrs. Robert Lane in Calico Rock, always take us canoeing on the White river. I spoke at the Church of Christ in this quiet little village the Sunday we were there. We drove on to Missouri to visit with Ouida’s brother, a retired Navy captain who has a super-scientific pig farm. Ashley served as a midwife in the birth of pigs while there. On our way home we visited Christian friends in Conway, Arkansas, where I addressed the College Church of Christ.

A recent issue of The Saturday Evening Post presented an interesting, informative article on “Disciples of Christ-Going Their Way.” The essay is so attractively done that the church’s office is using it in public relations, one goal of the church being to become better known. You might request a copy by writing the Office of Communication, Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46206.

Buff Scott also wants his The Reformer better known, though it is still within its first year. The current issue has an article by Carl Ketcherside on how to quit smoking. The sub rate is only 2.00 for the year and the address is 1003 Pilot Ave., Cherokee, 10. 51012.

Minister John Wright of Burke Road Church of Christ in Houston, writing in the church’s weekly bulletin, tells the story of how victims of the Japan Air Lines crash wrote love notes to their families during the few minutes they had before the end came. One wrote his son, “I’m counting on you,” and went on to thank his wife for their years together. John suggests to his readers that if they see themselves using their last few minutes in such a way, they might just go ahead and say those things now, for they might not have a chance later on.

Cecil Hook, who has an essay in this number that you will appreciate, has published a new book, Free to Speak, which includes his elegant piece on “Lamentations of a Mediocre Preacher,” along with 26 other pungent essays. The price is 4.95 postpaid. Order from him at 1350 Huisache, New Braunfels, TX. 78130. His earlier book, Free in Christ, is really having an impact with 5,000 copies distributed in less than a year, and it is free for the asking.