Follower of Jesus; Husband of Amber; Father of Trace and Hallie; Fan of the UK Wildcats; Dean of Faculty Development and Professor of Christian Studies at NGU
It was two in the morning, the hour when even the bravest samurai retires to his bedroll, yet here, a fortress of light beckoned me from the darkness.
Every castle I have ever known has fallen. Fire, siege, taxes. Eight hundred years of my family learning one lesson: nothing stays open forever.
This house has never closed.
Not for storms. Not for holidays. Not for the hour when even the moon looks tired. I asked the waitress when they lock the doors.
"We don't have locks, hon."
No locks. I own walls, moats, and a sword older than this country, and I have never once said anything that powerful.
Inside, a cook was scraping the grill at 2 a.m. with the calm of a man guarding something. I asked if he was the night watch.
"I'm Darnell."
A trucker two stools down raised his coffee. "Place stayed open during the hurricane," he said. "FEMA's got a whole index about it."
An index. The government of this nation measures disasters by whether THIS HOUSE is still standing. In Japan, we measured a clan's strength by its castle. Same thing. Theirs serves waffles.
I ordered. I ate. I confess what happened next.
I did not want to leave. The night outside was large. The booth was warm. I am a grown warrior, and I sat in a yellow fortress at 3 a.m. feeling protected by hash browns.
A castle does not promise to stand forever. It simply leaves the lights on.
I drive past at night now. Just to check. The lights are always on.
Sentries of the griddle — I see you. Hold the line.
Special thanks to @XScholarsReview for posting this excerpt from Faithful Faculty on its blog.
Faithful Faculty: Vocational Flourishing in Christian Higher Education https://t.co/eptf4jpF4J
Duke’s last three NCAA Tourney losses
Blow 19-point lead to UConn - commit TO in final seconds, lose on 35-foot 3-pointer.
Make 1 FG in final 10 minutes, led by 14 with 8:00 left, by 6 with 1:00 left, lose to Houston.
Lose to 11-seed NC State by 12 as 7-point favorite.
@deaninserra The quality of play, closeness of the game, and the context in which the game was played, Kentucky rising out of the ashes of probation and Duke playing for a repeat, make the Laettner shot more significant. The shot itself may be better…and as a UK alum, I hope it replaces it!
@sabaton My 13-year-old autistic son wants to attend your upcoming concert in ATL, but my wife and I are a concerned about his ability to handle all the sensory input of people, music, lights, etc. Do you have any history of helping folks like him enjoy your awesome music live?
@RebeccMcLaugh When my son was 4 or 5, he had to get an inordinate amount of blood drawn over a couple of months, he started calling nurses “blood suckers”!!!
@hunterbaker The line was one of the BEST ever... without a doubt. But, when Emmitt held out during the glory years, they lost two in a row. When he came back, they went 12-2 and won the Super Bowl. He was pretty amazing without being the flashiest or most talented!
@JacobTamme@DerekSTerry@scotty_w_lewis I think that issue is the whistle didn’t seem “inadvertent,”especially after some questionable calls have cost Corbin there before.