My job as chaplain in a large psychiatric hospital was terminated. I think the corporate executives thought the bottom line would be improved. What they didn’t know was patients entered the chapel to pray and hear the chaplain’s daily devotionals. Patients often knelt in front of the cross to pray and cry out to God for healing. Several courageous patients…
Author: Larry Yeagley
Wonderfully Simple-Simply Wonderful
An elderly friend of mine called about a troubling book she was reading. It was a compilation of quotations, none of which came with context. Listed were dozens of requirements for entrance into heaven. Given a thousand years she could not meet the necessities. I told her to chuck the book and focus on the life of Jesus. The Gospel…
Don’t Look Back!
A new family moved to the farm next to ours. The father was tired of factory work. He bought new machinery and proceeded to plant his fields. One day he walked over to our fence. Young man, I have a problem. I can’t make straight rows to save my life. Can you help me? I tied my team to the…
Crank Up the Volume!
Two years ago I attended a Vocal Majority concert. They sing barbershop style. When the curtain went up their red blazers and white trousers dazzled. Those 144 men sent chills up my spine. I felt like singing with them. Almost every song featured the high tenors. Just when I thought they had reached their highest note, they went higher. When…
Tech vs. Touch
The tech guys are once again telling me it is a good way to spread the Gospel. Once again I am skeptical. Twenty-five years ago they talked my little church into buying a satellite dish. It cluttered the church landscape and created a seven thousand dollar debt. The city did not scramble to listen to a talking head behind a…
Names and Places
Names and places hold memories. Some are pleasant. Some are even painful. Some you try to erase. Some you embrace. All shape who you are. Cornwall: My first day of school was scary. Bully boys challenging the teacher made my heart beat furiously. First rumblings of affection were cherished when pretty Miss Snyder thanked me for my gift of coconut…
Charlie Brown Lessons!
A Charlie Brown Christmas tree was a reality to this farm kid. We paraded through the woods until we came upon a young white pine. With luck it would have four or five branches and no more than 4 feet high. Our father constructed a tree stand out of scrap lumber. Mom had a few time-worn balls with most of…
Be Still and Know . . .
As the bus left Denver my seatmate turned to me. I always get sad when I leave the city. I grew up with the sounds of the city in my ears. I get a lonely feeling just thinking about being away from the city. What a strange man! He probably thought I was strange when I told him about my…
A Still Small Voice
Three thousand elementary school children filled the concert hall of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. You guessed it. The sound of that many voices was deafening. The musicians took their places. The maestro stepped to center stage without saying a word or gesturing for quiet. Slowly the din of voices diminished. Softly the director spoke. If you promise to keep from…
Lesson from Beethoven
When contemplating my move to Arkansas I heard about refrigerators on front porches and treasures under blue tarps. I was told that Beethoven and Brahms had been squeezed into oblivion by bluegrass and country. I didn’t think I could survive without Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. I had heard it performed by orchestras in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Pittsburg, Cleveland and Chicago. Would…