Dec. 15, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Just wondering...

…whether Beatrice Schneider knows how inspiring she is playing Imogene in this year’s “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” movie?

Beatrice Schneider in "The Best Christmas
Pageant Ever"

                The film is a comedy, but Schneider, as a young teenager who takes care of her family in her parents’ absence, is the focal point of a strong message of hope and the true meaning of Christmas.

                Imogene is the oldest of the six Herdman kids, known for terrorizing their smalltown neighborhood. Think the Glossners from the TV series, “The Middle.” The Herdmans lie, bully, cuss, smoke cigars and set things on fire. Imogene forces the story’s main “good girl,” Beth, to hand over her necklace. The youngest Herdman, Gladys, has a demeanor that scares even adults.

                The pageant in the title is an annual church play that suddenly is put in charge of Beth’s mother, Grace. When the Herdmans, who never have set foot in a church, decide they want to be in the pageant, the whole town shudders.

                But Grace gives them a chance, even allowing Imogene to be Mary, the mother of Jesus, instead of the cute, proper girl who was Mary last year.

                The unruly family starts out rowdily, as expected. When told that frankincense is a kind of oil, one of the boys says, “What kind of cheap king hands out oil? You get better presents at the firemen’s shelter!”

                But Grace offers them grace, and they start to understand the Jesus story. It’s most obvious in Imogene, who changes from the bossy “mom” of her family to the sensitive, hopeful girl who was there all along.

                The movie is directed by Dallas Jenkins, who created the Jesus streaming series, “The Chosen,” but it isn’t a Bible-in-your-face sermon. It has just the right balance to appeal to churchgoers and those who might be looking for faith.

                It also is another indication that Christian films are improving and attracting actors from mainstream productions such as Judy Greer (Grace) and Lauren Graham (adult Beth). “Chosen” fans will recognize a couple of faces in minor roles.

                Warning: The ending might bring tears.

* * *

…whether you knew the new “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin” has an Amarillo connection. One of its producers, Ralph Winter, also was a producer of “What Remains,” which was shot in Amarillo through Sharpened Iron Studios and was the last film featuring Anne Heche before her 2022 death.

                “Bonhoeffer” tells the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who preached against Hitler during World War II and was executed near the end of the war for his association with a plot to kill the Fuhrer. It’s a somber film, of course, but Jonas Dassler gives an inspiring performance as Bonhoeffer.

* * *

…what your reaction is when you read something implying that “thinking” people don’t buy the message laid out in the Bible of supernatural occurrences such as God creating the world, his coming to Earth as baby Jesus, the adult Jesus producing miracles, his rising from the dead and the eternal salvation that results from our believing in him.

                The truth is that plenty of intellectuals believe in Christ and his message, and it’s easy to find examples. A 1984 book edited by Roy Abraham Varghese is called “The Intellectuals Speak Out About God.” Its 25 essays are divided among experts in “The Sciences,” “Philosophy” and “Apologetics and Theology.” For example, Professor Stanley L. Jaki, who lectured at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, writes about “From Scientific Cosmology to a Created Universe.”

John E. Smith, a Yale University philosophy professor who was president of the American Philosophical Association, writes about “The Rationality of Belief in God.” And Professor Nikolaus Lobkowicz, who was president of the University of Munich in Germany, writes about “Marxism and Christianity.”

                More recently, in her 2019 book, “Confronting Christianity,” Rebecca McLaughlin says Praveen Sethupathy, a Cornell University genetics professor, is a believer in traditional Christianity. She lists 11 professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who profess faith in Christ, and her book quotes many more Christian academics.

                Those are just two books on my shelves that were handy; there are many more. The purpose here isn’t to go into arguments one way or the other but to remind unbelievers that they aren’t the only smart people out there.

                This quote is attributed to Augustine, the fourth century North African theologian and philosopher. He may not have said it, but it’s a good one: “The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”

* * *

…what you were doing at age 18. British author Alice Loxton, 28 years old, has a book out called “Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives.” It’s aimed at a general audience, not serious scholars, but it’s a creative and entertaining exercise that might entice readers into the field of history.

“Eighteen” looks at 18 Britons, from well-known, such as Queen Elizabeth I, Admiral Nelson and Richard Burton, to obscure such as Jacques Francis, a 16^th century diver from West Africa, and Mary Anning, a 19^th century fossil hunter.

I was hooked on reading it when I saw that one of the 18 is Jack Lewis. That’s the name the famed Christian writer and professor C.S. Lewis answered to. At 18, he was a new Oxford University student about to be sent to the trenches of France when World War I broke out.

The Lewis chapter has nothing new for fans of the author of the Narnia books and “Mere Christianity,” but lots of readers will be surprised at the trials the young intellectual faced.

* * *

…whether you’ve heard of “The Religiverse.” No, it isn’t a new way to memorize Bible verses, but a free email newsletter produced twice a week by Jason Boyett, host of the “Hey Amarillo” podcast, co-publisher of “Brick & Elm” magazine and author of the book, “12 Major World Religions.”

                “The Religiverse” offers links to news about world religions, including Christianity, and some commentary by Jason. It’s a good resource for information on your religion and those of others. One way to sign up is to Google “Religiverse Boyett.”

Nov. 10, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News

Politics aside, remember the higher authority

By Mike Haynes

                In the middle of election season, I can get pretty agitated. That’s just on the inside; I avoid talking about politics except with some of my family and a friend in Florida, so most people wouldn’t know how worried I get when I hear some of the comments and plans from the party that scares me.

                I purposely wrote this column before the election so I wouldn’t know which side is crying about the

presidential contest. Whichever way it went, about half the country is terrified that now, the end of democracy is near. (I suppose the vote count still could be up in the air five days after Election Day.)

                With the United States divided down the middle, some on the right and some on the left are considering what country they should move to (legally, I hope) to avoid the perceived tribulation to come. (For Kathy and me, it’s Scotland.) For most (including us), speculating on such a drastic step is just letting off steam, but the worry behind it is real.

                That’s when I need to listen to Mark, that friend in Florida.

                Mark is as passionate for his viewpoint as anybody. He donates to candidates and places signs in yards (some of which get stolen). He has strong political and moral opinions.

                But when we talk on the phone about politics, he invariably returns to a stronger belief: “God is in control.”

                Having grown up in Kansas, Mark has deep-seated Midwestern values. The son of missionaries, he is a Christian and a doer, not only a pew-sitter, working with people who are deaf and inviting people in bad circumstances to stay at his house.

                And I don’t think he’s planning to flee the country, no matter who won the election.

                Mark refers to the apostle Paul, who wrote to Christians who lived in the capital of the most powerful empire of the first century:

                “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. (Romans 13:1, NIV)

                That instruction probably was issued in the 50s A.D. during a time when many of Jesus’ first followers had been killed for their beliefs and Christians still were being persecuted by the Roman government. But Paul, who himself would be executed by Rome, understood the big picture.

                He was familiar with the Hebrew Bible, which said, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11) Paul knew that when the Israelites were hesitant to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land, God had told Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

                For about half our population, the state of our nation might look scary right now. I hope some words from Jesus will provide comfort. Explaining to his disciples that bad times were coming, he said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV)

                Two Sundays before the election, our Sunday school teacher told us, “Sometimes bad people are at the top. Sometimes good people at the top. But either way, God is in control.”

                Last Sunday, one of our music leaders said, “Our job is to show the light of Jesus” through the anxiety and confusion after the election. “God is in charge of the timeline,” she said.

                I don’t think the Old or New Testament writers or Jesus himself meant we should ignore what’s going on in the world or our country and sit by waiting for God’s kingdom to arrive fully. But as we participate in our communities and the nation, we should work from a godly perspective, trusting in these words that Paul wrote to the church at Philippi:

                “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

                Just before that statement, Paul wrote, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” (Philippians 4:5)

                I didn’t hear much gentleness from either side in the campaign season, and based on the past few years, I don’t expect much in the days to come. I wish those on both sides would pay attention to this advice from author and pastor Chuck Swindoll:

                “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react.”  

                Many have said that despite sharp differences among various American ethnic, political, economic and cultural groups, we have more in common than the things that divide us. Tomorrow, Nov. 11, is one opportunity to stress that harmony as our military veterans – especially those who have died serving the country – are thanked and honored.

                Coming so soon after the Nov. 5 election, I hope it will be a start in the desperate need for the nation to heal.

                Kathy and I sometimes switch the TV channel from the news to “The Andy Griffith Show.” Spending time in Mayberry can calm an anxious heart and even put things in perspective. But for permanent peace, it’s better to focus on the words of Jesus as he prepared his closest followers for the trauma of his death and what followed.

                “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, NIV)

                I’m glad our Florida friend keeps reminding me.

Oct. 13, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

'Confronting Christianity' tackles 12 hard questions of faith

By Mike Haynes

                I’m not going to call Rebecca McLaughlin “the new C.S. Lewis.” Few could disagree that Lewis was the foremost defender of Christianity of the 20^th century; his is the name to which later Christian apologists most often are compared.

                McLaughlin certainly has given much to 21^st century efforts, however, to explain and promote Jesus

Christ to unbelievers and urge churchgoers to consider Christian walks more in line with scripture.

                On the recommendation of my friend Mark in Florida, I listened to a podcast featuring McLaughlin, a Christian writer, speaker and teacher. It led me to read her 2019 book, “Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Hardest Religion.”

                I’m glad I did.

                “Confronting Christianity” was “Christianity Today” magazine’s 2020 book of the year, and for good reason. McLaughlin uses her extensive knowledge of theology, history, sociology and science to present convincing answers to those 12 questions – managing to quote Lewis a few times along with a myriad of historical and current academics from atheists to committed Christians.

McLaughlin herself is intriguing. She’s English (the accent got my attention right away) with a doctorate in Renaissance literature from Cambridge University and a degree in theological and pastoral studies from Oak Hill Theological College in London.

                The scholarly Brit married Bryan, a guy from Oklahoma, after they met in graduate school at Cambridge, and they now live in what she called “New Cambridge,” the one in Massachusetts. Her husband, who also has Ph.D. after his name, is a medical researcher.

Rebecca McLaughlin

                McLaughlin spent nine years with the Veritas Forum, where she equipped Christian professors to speak about the relation of their faith to their work. She co-founded Vocable Communications, which coaches professionals in communication based on academic research. “Confronting Christianity” was published in association with the Gospel Coalition.

                The book takes the 12 questions – including “Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?” and “How Could a Loving God Allow So Much Suffering?” and refutes common assumptions not only with logic, but with compassion.

A key topic is “How Can You Say There’s Only One True Faith?” One of McLaughlin’s replies addresses the current popularity of saying, “I have my truth, and you have your truth.” She wrote, “Physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson famously quipped to Stephen Colbert, ‘The good thing about science’ is that ‘it’s true whether or not you believe in it.’” She adds, “But this is not limited to science: it’s the good thing about truth. Period.”

McLaughlin uses the “central truth claim on which Christianity stands or falls” to point out that the three major religions that claim one God cannot all be 100 percent true. “Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead,” she wrote. “Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but that he was instead taken up into heaven. Jews (and atheists and agnostics, for that matter) believe that Jesus died and remained dead. These claims are mutually exclusive. … (T)o say that all religions are equally true is to lose our grip on history.”

Although C.S. Lewis’ lines of reasoning were based on his deep knowledge of the Bible, he used few direct scripture references in his books. McLaughlin takes a different approach. Her book is filled with the Old and New Testaments, plus a four-page scripture index at the back. Regarding Jesus’ divinity, she quotes him from John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” – and highlights his actions, such as not only healing the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him from the roof of a house to reach Jesus but telling him, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5)

She quotes Jesus again: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26). And she paraphrases Lewis: “This is not the teaching of a good man. … (T)his is the teaching of an egotistical maniac or an evil manipulator, or God in the flesh.”

Coming from Cambridge University and living near Harvard, McLaughlin has many scientist friends. (She also is married to one.) She took advantage of some of them in considering the question, “Hasn’t Science Disproved Christianity?”

One long paragraph lists 11 professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, near her home, who are Christians at “the sacred temple of scientific endeavor.” “If science has disproved Christianity, no one has thought to notify them!” she writes.

McLaughlin places high value on science, but she compares the fact-finding of science to the meaning-seeking of religion. The first book of the Bible is not primarily concerned with science, she says. “As a Christian, I believe that every detail of the creation accounts in Genesis is inspired by God and that these opening chapters are the first course in the Bible’s feast of foundational answers to our deepest questions: Who are we? What does life mean? And how do we relate to God and to each other?”

The book quotes Russell Cowburn, a Cambridge experimental physics professor:  “Understanding more of science doesn’t make God smaller. It allows us to see His creative activity in more detail.”

“Confronting Christianity” doesn’t just spew out facts and arguments. McLaughlin’s book examines the heart and human feelings as much as intellectual issues, especially in chapters such as “Isn’t Christianity Homophobic?”, where she is straightforward about her own attraction to women since childhood but believes her relationship with Christ is far more important. She writes that as significant as male-female marital bonds are to God, brotherly and sisterly connections between Christian friends might be just as worthy.

                “Like marriage and like parenthood,” she writes, “(friendship) is another way in which God manifests
an aspect of his love for us.”

                This book lays out why Christianity is the best foundation for race relations, women’s concerns, morality and other modern cultural issues. It doesn’t directly address politics, but I wish many would read it before the upcoming election. I suspect McLaughlin’s 2021 book, “The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims,” would be even more helpful for that purpose.

                “Confronting Christianity” effectively hits the major objections to following Christ. My Florida friend and I don’t need convincing, but many do.

Sept. 15, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News

Fixing injury starts on inside - including spiritually

By Mike Haynes

                My memory is hazy, but I do remember some things from Oct. 27, 1967. I was a high school junior playing for my hometown McLean Tigers. I was a guard on offense and I think the same on defense. Out on the field at Silverton, I didn’t notice how cold it was. But I sure did after I hurt my knee.

                It was on a punt. It could have been the one that my teammate, Earnest Smith, ran back 75 yards for the game’s first touchdown, but I’m not sure. All I remember is being in the open, probably looking for somebody to block, when a Silverton Owl hit the side of my right leg. I went down, and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the sideline on an equipment box or something else close to the ground. And when you’re inactive on a freezing night, you’re shivering.

                By the way, Earnest also was hurt that night; he broke his collarbone.

                In the locker room changing clothes after our 20-8 victory, my legs were bare. Coach Fred Hedgecoke looked at my right knee and asked, “Is your other knee that big?” The right one definitely was swollen.

After limping around for a few weeks I tried to play basketball, but the knee collapsed in practice when I came down from a layup. So I had surgery to remove cartilage. These days they call that meniscus surgery, and it usually is simpler, arthroscopic surgery rather than the more invasive operation that I had.

Today, athletes return to competition after that kind of injury, but back then, it ended my football career. My senior season, I was in the press box writing about the games for The McLean News.

                My knee did well for a couple of years. I just had two small scars outside, and the inside damage wasn’t bothering me much. Then I strained it on a ski slope, and for decades I hobbled on my bad knee.

                Dr. Charles Sadler had done a good job removing that damaged cartilage, but the inner workings of the knee weren’t the same. Through the decades, the “bone-on-bone” joint got worse. When Kathy and I took a trip to New England in 2023 and I was lagging behind our tour group, plus having trouble going up and down the steps of the tour bus, I decided it finally was time to go to the doctor.

                The X-ray showed my thigh bone wasn’t lined up with the shin bone; it was off center. Dr. Reagan Crossnoe told me the condition of my knee was “horrible.” So on Feb. 23, 2024, Dr. Crossnoe replaced that right knee with metal and plastic – 56 years, three months and 28 days after that Silverton Owl had delivered a blow to it. This time, the joint wasn’t just improved; I had a new knee.

                For 5½ decades I had managed to get around, sometimes better than others. But the state of the knee on the inside just wasn’t going to let me maneuver anywhere close to normal.

                Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees they were “like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28, NAS)

                Other than a slight limp, I didn’t let my bad knee affect what I did. I tried to fake a successful gait. But the mechanism inside didn’t allow a clean movement, and it got worse over time. When I was confronted with a staircase during the past few years, I immediately drifted to the handrail on the right (if there was one) to brace my right knee as I went up or down. And I was more steady if I put one foot, then the other, on each step. It definitely delayed my progress.

                I couldn’t get around like I wanted because of the jumbled up arrangement of the bones and the lack of cartilage. The surgeon needed to clean out the old and give me something new.

                “Create in me a clean heart, God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10, NAS) Like my knee, just trying to fix our behavior from outside might not be the best answer to our problems as we navigate through life. God wants us to have a completely new attitude, an entirely fresh point of view. Only he can provide that as we let Jesus save us from our sinful lives.

                “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, RSV)

                Our friend Tommy posted this comment from Oswald Chambers on Facebook:

The columnist had no trouble climbing these stairs
in a tower at Caernarfon Castle in Wales in July
2024. (Photo by Kathy Haynes)

“The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly.”

When I asked Dr. Crossnoe what kind of improvement I could expect in negotiating stairs with a knee replacement, he replied, “Dramatic.” Faced with a steep, wide staircase on a trip to the British Isles four months after the surgery, I walked straight up and down the middle with my hands free, just one foot on each step. In a tall English castle tower, I was confident on winding, stone steps.

                Many of us have suffered injuries that didn’t happen on a football field. They are emotional or mental pains that hinder our life journeys. If we would let God give us new, faithful hearts like a doctor replaces a knee, our spiritual walks would be much more smooth and confident.

 Aug. 11, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Historical sites let visitors stand in a moment of time

By Mike Haynes

                Sometimes, history is right in front of you.

                If you’ve been to the Alamo or to Washington, D.C., you know what I’m talking about. Kathy and I have been blessed to stand in places where important events happened or where legendary people walked. This summer, we added our footsteps to some historic spots in Great Britain.

     

           The Viking ocean cruise that we had anticipated for two years took us to a different port every day around the British Isles, and every day we visited fun or significant sites with tour guides to explain what we were seeing. I don’t know how much British history that American kids learn these days, but some places Kathy and I were taken to did ring bells in our memories.

                Thomas Becket was the English chancellor of the realm, and in 1162, his friend King Henry II appointed him archbishop of Canterbury. Becket started placing the church above loyalty to the king, however, and the two disagreed on such political issues as how churchmen should be tried by the courts. In 1170, Henry is said to have exclaimed, “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?,” which prompted four knights to travel to Canterbury Cathedral, get into a tussle with Becket and murder him with their swords.

                Becket eventually became a Catholic saint, and his story has been told in poetry, theater and a 1964 movie starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole. His martyrdom is one reason pilgrims flocked to Canterbury for centuries, giving Geoffrey Chaucer inspiration to write “The Canterbury Tales.”

The side chapel in the cathedral where Becket was killed is open to visitors, and Kathy and I stood on the stone floor where his blood flowed. The spot is marked by a modern sculpture of red-tipped swords pointing down to an altar built long after his death.

Another day, a proper English gentleman led our tour of Chavenage House, parts of which were built in the late 1300s and most of it in the 1500s. The manor in the Cotswolds region played the “part” of Trenwith House in the recent PBS television series, “Poldark,” which Kathy and I knew going in. But we were surprised when we entered a small bedroom on the second floor and were told that Oliver Cromwell had slept there.

Cromwell, an anti-Catholic Puritan, and his parliament supporters had taken over the government from King Charles I, a devout Catholic, after the English Civil War. The king was imprisoned, and in 1648, Cromwell made the rounds of influential members of parliament to convince them to support executing Charles.

When Cromwell visited the Chavenage owner, MP Nathaniel Stephens, he stayed in the very bedroom where Kathy and I stood on the wooden floor. Last month, it was decorated with a 1640s tapestry, a smooth, metal helmet that gave the parliamentary army the nickname, “Roundheads,” and a portrait of Cromwell. Our tour guide said Stephens reluctantly agreed to the execution, and Charles was beheaded in 1649.

  We also walked into a bedroom at the huge Blenheim Palace complex where a more recent notable Englishman was born. The first duke of Marlborough led a significant military victory over the French in 1704, and English Queen Anne rewarded him with land and a new mansion, which became Blenheim Palace.

The mother of one of Marlborough’s descendants was attending a party at Blenheim in 1874 when she went into labor. The baby was Winston Churchill, later the prime minister who led England through World War II.

We walked through Churchill’s birth bedroom, which had floral wallpaper and a bed, but not the one from 1874. The famous statesman also proposed to his wife, Clementine, on the expansive palace grounds in 1908 and later said, “At Blenheim I took two very important decisions: to be born and to marry.”

My wife and I have been privileged to visit some fascinating places through the years, including Paul McCartney’s childhood home in Liverpool and Davy Crockett’s birthplace in Tennessee (despite the song, it wasn’t on a mountaintop). Probably the most remarkable, though, the hardest to put your mind around, were the places where Jesus walked.

In 2019, we toured Israel with a group from Washington Avenue Christian Church. We visited some sites where experts think Christ was present and others where his sandals almost certainly touched the ground.

A hill next to the Sea of Galilee is considered the likely place where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the

Mount. The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem could have been the place where he rose from the dead – or that momentous event could have happened at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

For sure, Jesus spent time in Capernaum, where our group walked in the remains of a synagogue and viewed the ruins of the house believed to be Peter’s. We didn’t see his footprints, but we know he spent time in that town. It’s mind-blowing to think about it.

 You don’t have to visit all those places to appreciate what happened in the past. And in the case of Christ, we know he’s still around.

July 28, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Many UK churches are repurposed sites, tourist attractions

By Mike Haynes

                A conical steeple rises high above an 1800s stone church building across the street from Newhaven Harbour at Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It’s one of innumerable examples of majestic architecture up and down Great Britain and a testament to centuries of Christian faith.

                But not this century.

                The beautiful building has served members of Newhaven St. Andrew’s Parish Church and Newhaven Free Church since its construction began in 1843, according to the Atlas Obscura website. Since 1994, the black, white and red sign attached to its stone façade has read, “alien rock/indoor climbing.”

                Inside, instead of a pulpit and altar, walls that reach almost to the peak of the sanctuary give customers vertical surfaces to scale. An Atlas Obscura headline says, “This repurposed church offers a more literal way to get closer to the heavens.”

                The transformed house of worship wasn’t the only one my wife, Kathy, and I saw as we circled the British Isles a few weeks ago on a Viking ocean cruise. In Inverness, the unofficial capital of the Scottish Highlands, two steeples dominate the skyline next to the River Ness. One tops another former church which now is Leakey’s Bookshop. The massive building houses thousands of used books where worshipers used to sing hymns.

                Other churches now are community centers, and even the well-known cathedrals such as the one at Canterbury, England, host many more tourists like us than people attending services.

                Church attendance in Britain and most of Europe has been on the decline for decades – with parts of the United States following that trend. I remember a gray-haired man on a public bus when Kathy and I visited Oxford in 2010. I told him we were on the way to tour the Kilns, the former home of Christian writer C.S. Lewis.

                In a British accent, the man told us he knew where Lewis’ house was but that “I don’t agree with what he stood for.”

                That’s the impression I had gotten about most of the intellectuals at Oxford, who seemed to have ignored Lewis’ Christian books as much as Lubbock ignored Buddy Holly before the 1978 movie about their favorite son became a hit.

                I don’t know what changed, but the author of “Mere Christianity” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” seems to have gained some respect in England. On Nov. 22, 2013, 50 years after his death, Lewis was honored with a memorial stone in Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey in London, joining literary lights such as Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens and John Milton.

                 And not that it’s resulted in fuller pews in Britain, but Magdalen College, the branch of Oxford University where Lewis taught for 29 years, gives him some love these days.

                While in Oxford after our cruise, Kathy and I sought out the entrance to Magdalen (for some reason pronounced “MAUD-lin) in order to experience Addison’s Walk, which we had missed on our other trip to the university city. It’s a circular dirt path, .8-mile long, on the Magdalen grounds, where Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson famously discussed Christianity one evening in the early 1930s. Lewis later wrote that the conversation, continued in his room at Magdalen, led to his transition from believing in God to acceptance that Jesus is that God.

                Our afternoon walk was lovely, as Brits would say, with a stream bubbling beside the path and deer grazing in fields on both sides.

                Back at the entrance to the 566-year-old college, we were pleased to see that, along with small books about Magdalen, you could buy an eight-page pamphlet called, “C.S. Lewis at Magdalen.” It was the only publication on the shelf about a single college professor or student. We also found out there is a plaque on a wall near Addison’s Walk with a poem by Lewis and another plaque in the Magdalen Chapel memorializing the writer.

                One of our cruise ports was Belfast, Northern Ireland, where we toured the Titanic Experience museum. We didn’t have time to see it, but Belfast, the birthplace of Lewis, has a C.S. Lewis Square that features seven sculptures of characters in his “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

  

              Another port was Dublin, Republic of Ireland, where we joined scores of people filing through the 1700s Old Library to see the Book of Kells, the 1,200-year-old creation that I wrote about in this space four weeks ago. The official guide to the book calls it “a brilliantly decorated manuscript of the four Gospels.”

                Yes, we did see it for less than a minute as we moved on to let others shuffle by, but it was a little like driving across a state line and back so you can say you’ve visited that state. We were five feet from the famous book, but on that day, it was open to a less-than-impressive page showing a genealogy list, not one of the gorgeously illustrated pages showing Christ or a gospel writer.

                A high-tech, immersive video presentation in a separate building almost makes up for the disappointing, quick look at the actual book. It shows how the Book of Kells was created, how its owners eluded Viking attacks and how it ended up in Dublin.

                Visitors get more emphasis on the art value, history and significance to Ireland than on the original purpose of the ancient book, and those aspects are important. It would be nice, though, to see a little more prominence put on the story its creators were telling: the Good News of Jesus.

                Of course, that’s not surprising in modern Great Britain.

July 14, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Retirement can lead to more activities, adventures to enjoy

By Mike Haynes

                If there’s an expert in the Texas Panhandle on retirement, it’s my friend Dr. Mike Bellah.

                I don’t mean the finances of retiring, although Mike B. does know about that, but just retirement in general, and especially what to do after you finish your main career.

                Three of his books are “The Best Is Yet To Be” (2019), “The Best Retirement Gifts Are Free” (2021) and “1001 Fun Things To Do In Retirement” (2022), all available on Amazon. Writing those and hiking on mountains are a couple of ways the Canyon resident has stayed busy after retiring from his Amarillo College English professor gig.

                  Retirement is on my mind because my wife, Kathy, just did it. I’ve been retired from Amarillo College since 2016 – I think around the same time Mike B. took the plunge. Kathy finally left her job a month ago after a long career giving radiation treatments at Panhandle Cancer Care Center and Harrington Cancer Center.

                So our long-planned cruise around the British Isles that wrapped up July 8 turned out to be a celebration of Kathy’s retirement. (Stay tuned for me to report on spiritual aspects of that trip – probably in this space July 28.)

                One of Mike B.’s retirement themes has been getting out of the house and doing fun and productive things. He celebrates people who are playful, spontaneous and adventurous. I’m flattered that he has mentioned Kathy and me in two of his examples.

                One of his “1001 Fun Things” is to go on a Concerts at Sea cruise, which Kathy and I did in 2022. As Baby Boomers, we were thrilled to see 1960s performers such as Brian Hyland, the Fifth Dimension and Paul Revere’s Raiders. Yes, we were sad that B.J. Thomas, originally scheduled, had passed away, and disappointed that Herman’s Hermits had canceled, but Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and the Buckinghams were enjoyable replacements.

    

Florence LaRue, an original member
of the Fifth Dimension, sings with Floyd
Smith on the January 2022 Concerts
at Sea Cruise. (Photo by Mike Haynes)

            We also had a local reason for booking the cruise. Borger’s Jackson Haney, a talented musician and lead singer of Geezers Gone Wild, has performed on Concerts at Sea for a few years. The time we went, though, he had to cancel because of eye surgery.

                Author Mike B. also told his readers in “The Best Retirement Gifts…” about determination and used as an example the quest Kathy and I had to see the Northern Lights. We flew to Iceland in 2015 trying to see them. It was cloudy the whole time we were there. But the geysers and waterfalls we saw up close made the trip worth it. In 2019, we took a cruise along Norway’s coast to see the Lights. They showed up – faintly. We weren’t satisfied, although visiting Norway was delightful.

                So in 2021 we flew to Alaska, got cleared for COVID at the Fairbanks airport and went out in minus-60-degree chill factor, nighttime weather to try again. We were rewarded spectacularly with an undulating curtain of green highlighted by red. Our young tour guide agreed with us that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1)

                Mike B. wrote that “Dreaming is the first step in dreams-come-true. Especially if you are persistent.”

 (Yeah, I know, if we had waited until this year, we could have seen the Lights right here in the Panhandle. They weren’t as magnificent as that night in Alaska, though.)

The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
showed God's glory outside Fairbanks,
Alaska, in January 2021.

                Kathy and I don’t have children, so instead of that blessing, we’ve been able to travel together, which I would say is one of our “love languages.” I’m happy that with both of us now retired, we’ll have even more time to go places together, whether it’s across the pond or to Clovis to see where Buddy Holly recorded “That’ll Be The Day.”

                And I’m grateful that after Kathy’s many years of being sweet and friendly to her patients while “knowing her stuff” professionally, she walked out of that career with nice comments from her bosses and fellow radiation therapists. I’m biased, but she deserves it tenfold.

                I know two Christian ministers who are nearing retirement, and both say they won’t really retire. One has a set date to leave the church he has pastored for almost three decades, and the other has been planning for years a way to ease himself out of his position while leaving his small church in a good place for the future. But they agree that Christians don’t retire from ministering to others.

                Kathy and I certainly don’t have trouble filling our time. She will continue volunteering with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, cooking for friends, being involved in our church and who knows what else. I hope to keep writing about the wonderful things God is doing plus some other projects.

 
               Psalm 92:14 says that righteous people “will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green.” And one of my favorite Bible passages is Philippians 1:6:

                “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

                Let’s all stay fresh and green.

June 30, 2024, column from the Amarillo Globe-News:

Book of Kells illuminates gospel, enlightens public

By Mike Haynes

                I’m hoping that this year my wife, Kathy, and I will get to stand in front of the Book of Kells.

                Unless you’re a history or art buff or have followed the reproduction of the Bible through the ages, you might wonder, “What’s the Book of Kells?” And once you know, you might say, “What’s the big deal about it?”

                For me, it’s pretty big. Because of my journalism background, which has involved ink and printing, and because of my Christian commitment, I have for years been fascinated by the production process of early Bibles. I’ve seen a few copies of the original King James Bible, published in 1611 in England, and four copies of the first Bible ever printed, by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany in 1455.

                But before Gutenberg, the Word of God was transmitted by hand, usually Catholic monks toiling with quills and ink, often followed by artists embellishing the pages with colorful images.

                The Book of Kells, named for its residence for a time at the abbey of Kells, Ireland, “is commonly regarded as the greatest illuminated manuscript of any era owing to the beauty of the artwork,” according to Joshua Mark of World History Encyclopedia.

                Since 1661, the 680-page book has been on display at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where we hope to see it. It attracts close to a million visitors a year to Trinity, which Queen Elizabeth I established in 1592 as a Protestant university.

                The book presents the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – in Latin and  illustrated stunningly. Christopher de Hamel, a Cambridge University professor and an expert on medieval manuscripts, said, “No study of manuscripts can exclude it, a giant among giants. Its decoration is of extreme lavishness and the imaginative quality of its workmanship is quite exceptional. It was probably this book which Giraldus Cambrensis, in about 1185, called ‘the work of an angel, not of a man.’”

This image from the Book of Kells shows the gospel

writer Matthew.

 
               The Book of Kells’ journey to Dublin is intriguing, too. Historians believe it was created by monks on the Scottish island of Iona around the year 800, then taken to Kells, Ireland, in 806 to keep it safe from the wave of attacks by Vikings, who first had struck Iona in 795, killing 68 monks. It could have been incomplete and finished at Kells.

                  When the anti-Catholic English leader Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland around 1650, the book’s caretakers feared for its safety and took it to Dublin, where Bishop Henry Jones took care of it. He donated the book to Trinity College in 1661.

                Although known primarily for its elaborate artwork, the manuscript certainly had a Christian purpose. Joshua Mark wrote, “The Book of Kells is thought to have been the manuscript on the altar which may have been first used in services on Iona and then certainly was at the abbey of Kells.

“The brightly-colored illustrations and illumination would have made it an exceptionally impressive piece to a congregation, adding a visual emphasis to the words the priest recited while being shown to the people – much in the way one today would read a picture book to a small child.”

John the Evangelist is shown in this image from the

Book of Kells.

The Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity College includes much more than the book itself, which is tucked away in an atmospherically safe nook and for which photography isn’t allowed. Visitors can see videos and other displays. According to Marc Connor, an English professor and president of Skidmore College, “The exhibit also has illustrated panels that describe all the elements that went into medieval bookmaking: the creation of ink, the making of vellum, the elaborate symbols used, the monastic life in the scriptorium and much more. It’s an immersion in the medieval world of the word.”

Studying the trajectory of handwritten and printed Bibles through the centuries, I’ve been impressed with the dedication of those who have ensured that God’s Word always is available to Christians and to those whom God is pursuing. I think the Book of Kells will be a brilliant reminder of those efforts.

I’ll let you know.