Author: Gary Furr

I am a musician, writer and Christian minister living in Alabama. I am founder and President of the Alabama Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children.
Evangelicalism, fear, Grace, Hope, Jesus, Leadership, Ministry, Politics1 Comment

Investing in Grace

Gary Furr

I first wrote this post seven years ago. Seems to me it is needed more than ever. Hope depends upon the capacity of a person to trust in the ultimate goodness of things rather than on the evidence of any particular moment’s appearance. That is important for the living of these days. In the fractures of our present politics, our divisions, our radical differences of how we see the same world, it is tempting to withdraw from the fray. It is also tempting to deepen the gulf. And neither of these options helps either us or the world. And it … Continue reading Investing in Grace

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Thoughts in Solitude

Gary Furr

For the beginning of Lent, I want to offer you these words of Thomas Merton from Thoughts in Solitude, Part Two, Chapter II consists of fifteen lines that have become known as “the Merton Prayer.”  It is the most common prayer of Merton’s that people cite.  MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing … Continue reading Thoughts in Solitude

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Hold to Truth

Gary Furr

Keep being the people we will need when this time of moral emptiness passes–and it will, I assure you. That’s important. This is a moment when all the wheels appear to be coming off of the world as we have known it. More important than ever that we resist being sucked into its false urgency and seeming inevitability. If something is true, it will abide and persevere through all pretensions of power and domination. Truth doesn’t cease to be true by force of personality or the clamor of a mob. So hold to truth. Time will vindicate your faithfulness to … Continue reading Hold to Truth

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The Kennedy Center and Lara Trump’s Big Break*

Gary Furr

Amid the intense battles in this political moment,  a most exciting development for the MAGA  faithful is that the President has appointed himself Chair of the Kennedy Center. MAGA world is positively abuzz with excitement as the venue promises a pro-America makeover. Kentucky Fried Chicken, Carl’s Junior, and McDonalds are planning concession booths as the the stars of the far, far, far right jockey for seats and luxury boxes. According to the New York Times, “Stephen K. Bannon, the longtime Trump adviser, thinks there should be an opening night performance of the J6 Prison Choir, made up of men once … Continue reading The Kennedy Center and Lara Trump’s Big Break*

America, Citizenship, Culture, Ethics, history, Hope, Leadership, mass murder, Race, Story, Theology, war6 Comments

Not Everything is a Deal

Gary Furr

A conviction, my late friend Jim McClendon used to say, is that which, should you cease to believe it would mean you were no longer you. The sacrifice of Ukraine and appeasement of Vladimir Putin is appalling. Who are we? I’ve watched our new Vice President scold Germany and Europe for not holding hands with the far right. In a press conference, the President essentially turned the three year war into a giant misunderstanding that should never have happened at all. There is plenty of blame to go around, going back to failure to oppose the annexation of Crimea enough … Continue reading Not Everything is a Deal