Rich: Jesus was a Jew

In the modest country home where I grew up, prejudices were not allowed.However, there was a serious bias against what Daddy called “no accounts,” men who laid up drunk and didn’t feed their families.

Rich: How prayer works

This is how prayer works: Tink and I were one hour into a seven-hour trip home from Memphis.I’d been on a book tour for two exhausting weeks and had a stomach bug, very rare for me. Our good friend and house sitter, Kathy Lanning, is alert and doesn’t miss a thing.

Rich: Tellers of songs — part three

Dolly Parton is, unquestionably, one of music’s best songwriters. Arguably, she is the best writer of the “girl singers,” as they were called in the 1960s, to come out of Nashville.Loretta Lynn was smart and unique in her view of marriage and relationships.

Rich: Tellers of songs - part two

In 1949, a young North Carolina preacher decided to take his ministry to the streets of Los Angeles where he and his staff pitched a tent and waited for the people to come. A few did. Billy Graham had prayed that the Lord would provide a larger congregation.

Rich: Tellers of songs - part one

Those who write songs are my favorite storytellers.In roughly three minutes, they can wrap your heart up and tie it in a pretty bow. Or, they can write of a baby that was born, then carry you down through his long life until his pinewood box is lowered six feet into the ground. In three minutes.

Rich: The Singer sewing machine

Mama loved to sew and was remarkably gifted at it. She had the mountain people's common sense which allowed her to decipher the most complicated situations. When I was four, I admired a dress in the window of a local department store.

Rich: More than worldly accomplishments

In an old-fashioned diner in Staunton, Virginia, the four of us sat in a leather booth against a wall of windows. Over eggs and biscuits, we were having the kind of conversation that close friends enjoy between sips of coffee. An older man approached, reaching out to shake the hand of Don Reid.

Rich: The photo of back then

There is a photo that I discovered a couple of years ago and immediately I put it on the refrigerator, so I’d never forget who I am. Who I really am. It is a color photo made with a Kodak Instamatic camera. Remember those? The little silver box with a flash cube snapped on top.

Rich: When the good ones leave

Over the past few years, I’ve lost too many loved ones who meandered out of this life and crossed the River Jordan. “I don’t know why the Lord keeps taking the good ones and leaving the bad ones,” I complained to a friend, recently widowed. Her husband had been a celebrated legend of the ages.

Rich: The river birch trees

Three river birch trees surround our home. I planted them three years after I built this house. River birches are pretty trees. They grow long, toward the sky, and spread a beautiful canopy of shade. The trunks are interesting and artistic as the bark is constantly curling into pieces.