Category: Ethics

Christianity, church, Culture, Ethics, Higher Education2 Comments

Writing Together

Gary Furr

For over thirty years, I have been part of an extraordinary community of theological friends. In our careers we were pastors, missionaries, seminary and college professors, and a university president. All of us were productive writers and thinkers and published individually a great deal over the years. We began coming together during the time that the Southern Baptist Convention was imploding over politics and theological disagreement in the 1980s. It was formed with three members and they soon began to invite the rest of us to join . This group became a wonderful place of freedom and fellowship. We found … Continue reading Writing Together

America, Citizenship, Culture, guns1 Comment

Responsibility, Freedom and Uvalde

Gary Furr

It’s incomprehensible that 325 million people can’t figure out how to keep their 18-year-old males from killing us and our children and grandchildren. We will hear a barrage of excuses, arguments, high-minded rationalizations and fatuous fears in the days ahead. I am feeling the despair I had after the massacre of babies that happened at Sandy Hook. We will pit gun rights versus safety for children, argue about paranoid conspiracy theories and generally avoid doing anything. Because that’s how we’ve turned away from the crisis. Here’s the deal for me. You let an 18-year-old stroll in and buy body armor, … Continue reading Responsibility, Freedom and Uvalde

Ash Wednesday, Ethics, Hope, humanity, Justice, Theology, Ukraine, violence, war1 Comment

A Prayer for the Russian People

Gary Furr

Today I pray for the people of Russia, passive victims of a sociopathic leader, taken into war without their voices and opinions being considered, lacking full knowledge or with the benefit of a factual and free press we pray. Lord have mercy. For a nation whose history is replete with czars, dictators and authoritarians, who have crushed dissent, stolen her wealth, compromised her people’s trust and repelled her Christian heritage unless it bow the knee to the idols. Lord have mercy. For mothers and grandmothers, whose young sons have been sent on a mission of bloodshed against kinsmen for no … Continue reading A Prayer for the Russian People

change, Citizenship, Culture, Higher Education, hope, Institutions, Leadership, Modern Life, Selfishness3 Comments
Sticky post

Your Bag of Wedges: A Commencement Address

Gary Furr

I was invited by President Beck Taylor to give the afternoon Commencement Address for Samford University’s winter graduation on Saturday, December 18, 2021 2 p.m. This is my text.. This reflection was originally part of a sermon that appears in my forthcoming book, Shadow Prayers. it will be out soon through Mossy Creek Press. Congratulations, graduates! What an accomplishment! We are proud of you today and you should be, too. Let me share the three measures of maturity that I gave my three daughters years ago: You’re out of the house, out of school and out of my money. My … Continue reading Your Bag of Wedges: A Commencement Address

Citizenship, Culture, Disease, Healthcare, Leadership, Pandemic, Politics1 Comment

Michael Lewis’ Premonition: A Cautionary Tale

Gary Furr

REVIEW of Michael Lewis, The Premonition: A Pandemic Story W. W. Norton & Company (May 4, 2021). After retirement I am deeply enjoying reading again at a level that I could not do when I was so busy. I just finished The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis. Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. Rather than an exhaustive overview of the pandemic, Lewis tells us from the viewpoint of individuals—a state public health officer, an epidemiologist, IT entrepreneurs and medical researchers racing … Continue reading Michael Lewis’ Premonition: A Cautionary Tale