Category: Suffering

Hope, Suffering, Terrorism

Remembering What I Said After 9-11

Gary Furr

I wondered about the things I said on the Sunday morning after 9-11.  So I retrieved my sermon from that day,  September 16, 2001 at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama.  I am still in the place where I was on that day, still trying to preach sermons to my people.  So, I wondered, what do I remember about what I said and felt and thought.  Turns out I had a record.  Some of these thoughts still help me.  Some cause me questions about where we have come since then.  You decide.   NRS Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember your creator in … Continue reading Remembering What I Said After 9-11

Art, Blues, Music, Suffering4 Comments

Irene, Goodnight…

Gary Furr

For a change, Alabamians were watching anxiously for everyone else’s safety as Irene ripped up the Eastern seaboard.  Alabamians are used to hunkering down in our safe places with flashlights and batteries, bottled water and a weather radio, waiting for the all clear.  So we waited this time, but the memories of April were still with us.  I have a daughter in New York, so I appreciated Mayor Bloomberg’s caution. There is a delicious sweetness in hunkering in the dark during a storm.  Routine stops, you call and gather everyone who matters most to you and let go of a … Continue reading Irene, Goodnight…

Cancer, Hope, Ministry, Prayer, Suffering2 Comments

Lessons From the Waiting Room

Gary Furr

In all the uproar of 9-11, a lot of personal history got pushed out of view.  A month later, ten years ago, whatever was going on was dwarfed by a morning that changed the world forever.  So it is surprising to me to reconnect to anniversaries that I thought were some other time. Ten years ago, on August 13, 2001, my sister underwent surgery for breast cancer.  Her situation was serious, she was young—in her thirties—for such a thing.  Our family was, like all families in such a moment, devastated and anxious. As a minister, Wednesdays are usually the busiest … Continue reading Lessons From the Waiting Room