J. Davy Crockett III

Once, as I drove through a part of our city, I was taken aback by the number of tattoo parlors that had sprung up to meet the obvious demand for what some call "body art." Some were upscale storefronts with catchy names; others were seedy looking establishments.

Nursing homes are places that I have often visited as a minister. Such visits can be a vivid reality check regarding the dramatic effects of aging. These “assisted living” and “memory care” facilities are places for men and women who have reached the point of needing care that their families, for whatever reason, are unable to give.

There is a great story about Art Linkletter, who was a household name and widely known in his heyday as a television personality. The story goes that, as Mr. Linkletter entertained at a nursing home, with microphone in hand, he asked an elderly lady in a wheelchair, “Do you know who I am?” The lady replied, “No, I don’t, but if you will go over to the nurses’ station, one of the nice people there will tell you who you are.”

There is a line from "A Death in the Family" by James Agee that says: "How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves. You can never go home again."

Almost daily, we hear or read about the malfeasance of some trusted individual, whether a key employee at a business or an elected official at some level of local, state or federal government.