Category: Family

9-11, Citizenship, Culture, fear, Grief, history, Hope, humanity, Justice, Politics, Selfishness, September 11, Suffering, Terrorism4 Comments

Remembering 9/11

Gary Furr

The Watchers Gary Allison Furr. September 11, 2020 I wasn’t on a plane, or a family member receiving frantic calls, I was not one of the air traffic controllers or military leaders Or an advisor to the President. I wasn’t at the Pentegon that day Or even a taxi driver or cop on duty in New York that day. I sometimes wished to have been more useful as the Towers fell, Reaching out to help someone else or at least console them. I was a witness like the rest, but I was where I’ve been since then, Watching on television, … Continue reading Remembering 9/11

Americana, Anger, Country Music, Doc Watson, Family, Memory, Music, Narrative, Old-time music, Songwriting, Story, Tragedy2 Comments

Tom Dooley

Gary Furr

Some years back Vickie and I vacationed near Boone, NC, home of Doc Watson. We stayed in a place with a view of Grandfather Mountain and traipsed around in the Smokies for a week. It was great. We ventured over to Wilkesboro, NC where the events remembered in the old murder ballad “Tom Dooley” happened. There are many versions of the story and many versions of the song, but here is a more traditional one I recorded a few years ago more in the style of Doc. Read a most interesting piece on the migration of lowland Scottish people to … Continue reading Tom Dooley

Children, Family, Grace, Home, Hope, hope, Love, Mothere's Day, Parenting, Poetry

Stay Connected

Gary Furr

Every Mother’s Day for the last dozen years of my ministry as a pastor, we’d combine Mother’s Day with Graduate Recognition. This is because our college students ended earlier than high school students and if we wanted to see them all before they went to Cancun or their senior trip, we’d better get it done. So, oddly, we celebrated Mother’s Day (which is lauded above Father’s Day). For all of my childhood, I figured Mother’s Day was in the Bible and we often got a sermon on the woman described in Proverbs 31. This was the only time we heard … Continue reading Stay Connected

Christianity, death, easter, Grief, Holy Week, Hope, spirituality, Suffering1 Comment

Prayer for a Requiem

Gary Furr

I am grateful that I have served with three wonderful worship leaders over the twenty-seven years at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church before I retired–Dr. Milburn Price, Dr. Terre Johnson, and Rev. Marty Watts. Thanks to being in a church with these outstanding musicians, we were exposed to some of the great music of the Christian church. Terre Johnson asked me to compose a closing prayer following a presentation of the Requiem by John Rutter, a beautiful and somber remembrance of human sorrow. Before we can hope again, we must grieve honestly to reckon our loss, and the Rutter Requiem is … Continue reading Prayer for a Requiem

Art, Christianity, Death, death, Family, God, Grief, Holy Week, Jesus, Mother, Race, spirituality3 Comments

Mother and Son

Gary Furr

Jaroslav Pelikan’s marvelous book Jesus Through the Centuries takes a sojourn through the vast and complex history of the interpretations of Jesus.  Among the chapters is one entitled, “Christ Crucified,” in which he notes the disproportionate focus on Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection in the gospel accounts.  By even the most “generous” reading, he notes, we have at most information about less than a hundred days of Jesus’ ministry on earth, but of the last few days we have an hour by hour account. Says Pelikan, “What was said of  the thane of Cawdor in MacBeth was true pre-eminently of Jesus: … Continue reading Mother and Son