Bill Cork

Every day, it’s a-gettin’ closer, Goin’ faster than a roller coaster.Buddy Holly could have been describing my life since I last wrote. Much has happened, including more than the usual travel for work. But that was just the beginning. This past September my boss had me to go to Germany for a retreat for American … Twists and Turns on the Road of Life

I wasn’t feeling well. Something was off. I noticed my distance vision was blurring, and my last exam was just five months ago. I was waking up all night to pee. And I had the strangest craving for grapefruit and grapefruit juice. I Googled the symptoms and found nothing for the last one – but … The Unexpected

A story from my college days. I came back from lunch with some friends one day in January 1981 and found a note from the dean of men in my dormitory mailbox. He was giving me a new roommate, an English as a Second Language student from Egypt. He was a Muslim. The dean considered … Building Bridges

“Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!” So the Beatles sang way back in 1968 on “The White Album” (I don’t think I purchased it for another 20 years or so). Yes, “life goes on,” and a lot has transpired since my last article, written after my daughter’s wedding. It’s been a roller coaster of ups … Life Goes On

It sat there, big and red, and I could almost hear the 375 horses under the hood stamping their hooves and snorting. It was a new Dodge Challenger, and it sat in the President’s Circle section of the Hertz lot at the Burbank Airport between Nissans and Toyotas. My wife and son were some yards … Fast Cars and Freedom

When I was a kid in Terre Haute, Indiana, fall meant raking leaves. It was the only yard work I enjoyed. We’d rake the leaves into giant piles, and then we’d spend the next couple of hours jumping in them, reforming the piles, and jumping in again. I can remember the damp earthy smell of … Fallen Leaves

I never really got tangled in wars between religion and science. Contrary to Larry Mitchel’s experience, related in a couple posts on this page, it didn’t all “start with science” for me. Rather, for me It started with a sense of the presence of God, and seeking to figure out what he meant to say. … Of Spiritual Journeys

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.” So C. S. Lewis begins his book, A Grief Observed, about the death of his wife, Joy. A … Shadowlands

An accordion. That’s what my life feels like right now, with pressure from two sides. I reflected on this in my first “Fine Winer” article, that I’m feeling the “middle” in “middle age.” My wife, Joy, and I are dealing with the growing pains of our young adult kids, and with aging parents. We worry … Life in the Middle

In Erich Maria Remarque’s 1931 novel, “The Road Back” (sequel to “All Quiet on the Western Front”), he follows a group of German soldiers home, as they try to reintegrate into civilian life after Germany’s surrender. They find everything changed—themselves, their friends, their family. When pushed to tell the family about his experiences, Ernst, the … War Stories