I have heard it said that being a father is hereditary. If your father has no children, there is a very good chance that you will have no children. I have also heard it said that hurt people, hurt people. The first statement is a joke, but the latter is not. When we have a [...]
My grandfather was in World War I and then he raised his family through the Great Depression. He made 15 cents an hour pruning trees in Yakima, Washington. He had little time for his son. My father went into the army at age 18, late in World War II. From 1939 until 1943 the [...]
Pushing Against the Rock PARABLE: Your call is to obedience as opposed to your vision of success.
Nine year old, Jeffery* looked up to his father, an avid motorcycle rider and motocross enthusiast. They had their moments of tension along the way, as all fathers and sons do, but the common ground of the motorcycle riding and repair routine kept them engaged with one another. Jeffery loved the things his dad was [...]
By: John Cragg It was December 1967. I was in fourth grade. My father was the pastor of an inner-city church in Newark NJ. That year I had watched tanks roll by my house from my living room window. The city was still tense from the racial strife. My father gathered the family around [...]
I met James* when he was eight. He was a solid square-shouldered, verbally gifted boy with a beaming smile. He lived with his mother, whom he adored, and his brothers. His stepfather had just been shot dead on the stoop of his home on the most violent block of Long Island. James was a [...]
Right after I finished the third grade, my dad moved us from a wealthy suburban community to the inner city, where he accepted a call to pastor the Roseville Presbyterian Church in Newark, NJ. My parents chose to send me to the local school a block from our house. My fourth grade class had 44 [...]
Bud, February 2017 My name is Bud. I'm ten. As soon as school is over for the day, I start running. I want to be the first one out so I can sit behind the bus driver that way the kids in the back won't tease me. As soon as the bus stops, I run [...]
Why should Aesop have all the fun?by John CraggThere was a hurt crow in my backyard. The fact that I took note of this is "Corona New". He hopped behind my shed as I walked out. As I neared the back of the yard, I noticed another crow was on my fence yelling at me. To [...]
