Author Archives: Don Follis

The cross is the way of Jesus

My friend pastor Chuck Carlson said farewell on Sunday (October 15) to the folks at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Champaign.  He served at the Church 11 years, but he was also concluding 43 years of full-time service in the ministry. Chuck is a wonderful man, a fine pastor, a thoughtful preacher.  Chuck and Betty,ContinueContinue reading “The cross is the way of Jesus”

A healthy daily practice

Every morning I ask myself a few questions in what attorney and church reconciliation guru Ken Sande calls the S.O.G. Plan. How am I feeling and acting? (practicing my own self-awareness) How are others around me feeling? How am I affecting them? (practicing being other-aware) What is God up to? (practicing being God-aware) I amContinueContinue reading “A healthy daily practice”

Soul Work class starts September 19th: Plans/notes/agenda

12 September 2017 Hello class members of “Soul Work – doing the unseen work in a leader’s life!” Welcome aboard… I am looking forward to being with you and journeying alongside you on Tuesday afternoons this fall. We start Tuesday, September 19 at 1:30pm, meeting at Stone Creek Church, 2502 So. Race Street, Urbana, IL atContinueContinue reading “Soul Work class starts September 19th: Plans/notes/agenda”

What you wish someone had told you when you were younger

Don Follis August 27, 2017 Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette Religion Column (In my Sunday column, I mention 11 things I wish someone had told me when I was younger. After I read the column, though, I thought of many more, and I thought that I probably was, in fact, told about many of these. But alas, lifeContinueContinue reading “What you wish someone had told you when you were younger”

Conversation in the desert cemetery brought real clarity

This is just outside the north gate of White tanks cemetery, a Maricopa County-run cemetery, the final resting place of hundreds of indigent souls, most of whom have died in the last 15 years in metro-Phoenix, Arizona.   One of hundreds of grave markers (the size of a coffee table coaster)  in barren White TanksContinueContinue reading “Conversation in the desert cemetery brought real clarity”

Better To Spend Your Time at Cemeteries Than At Parties

On my way to my Phoenix Rescue Mission today, where I have been volunteering on Fridays, I stopped by White Tanks Cemetery. White tanks Cemetery is owned by Maricopa County and is used for burying indigent persons — several thousand, in fact, since it opened in 1994. Here’s what it looked like this morning betweenContinueContinue reading “Better To Spend Your Time at Cemeteries Than At Parties”

White Tanks Cemetery where 3,000 indigent souls are laid to rest

Near the Phoenix Rescue Mission where I have been hanging out on Fridays this summer during my study break is the White Tanks Cemetery, the burial-place Maricopa County (Metro-Phoenix) uses to bury people who are indigent. More than 3,000 persons are buried in the cemetery that was opened in 1994. The man who heads upContinueContinue reading “White Tanks Cemetery where 3,000 indigent souls are laid to rest”