In 1995, while living in Kingsport, Tennessee, I was contacted by Becky Whitlock inquiring if I might be interested in writing a regular religious column for the Kingsport Times News. Becky is an editor for the paper and had evidently come across some of my writings from my local church newsletter. I agreed to do so and have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the paper and the larger East Tennessee community ever since. There have been seasons in which I have taken an editorial "breather" but, for the most part, I have been writing regularly since that time.
One of the things I determined...