Author Archives: joyocala

I don’t interview well. I was meeting with a congregation for the first time prior to their vote on extending me a call. A woman asked me, “What’s your main thing?” I thought for a moment. “Well, right now in … Continue reading →

In the summer of 1962 I was eighteen years old and had just finished my freshman year of college. I was lucky to find a summer job working on a gas company crew putting in services for new residential customers. … Continue reading →

Back when I was golfing regularly – an eternity ago – I carried only two wedges in my bag. These are the clubs you use to chip your way onto the green. I still carry only those two wedges: sand … Continue reading →

As I write this, I have just returned from a morning walk. The air was fresh thanks to last night’s rain. The sun was just coming over the horizon. A beautiful moment to breath deep and give thanks to God. … Continue reading →

In my math classes, I used to teach PEMDAS, the order of operations for math (parentheses first, then any exponents, multiply and divided using those operations left to right, lastly add and subtract, again using those operations left to right). … Continue reading →

When I was a kid, Spam was fake meat that came in a tin. Even the thought of it made me want to hold my nose and gag. In today’s techno-world, Spam is an unwanted email. “Click here for a … Continue reading →

This is an updated version of a blog which I wrote last summer. I was surprised to realize that the fate of children is still prominent in the news. In fact, the same issues are still troubling our world and … Continue reading →

Today we remember St. James. He was a fisherman, a son of Zebedee, and the brother of John. The two brothers along with Peter formed an inner circle among the disciples. These are the three that were with Jesus at … Continue reading →

I’m writing this on Saturday, July 20, 2019, and it’s been exactly fifty years since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. It was a stunning achievement, and it seemed like all of us were united in our excitement about the … Continue reading →

We certainly have a lot of options when it comes to water these days! Most of you blog readers remember as kids playing and when we got thirsty, we drank from the garden hose. Tap water, put into the refrigerator … Continue reading →