Window dressing
By Jolene K. Hodder, Commissioner - In our home, there is an established procedure for watching Hallmark Christmas movies. At the appointed hour, I run upstairs to change out of my uniform into a t-shirt and sweatpants while my darling
Lessons learned from ‘Field of Dreams’
‘If you build it, they will come.’ By Marcia Smith, Lt. Colonel - Recently, it was the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie “Field of Dreams.” My husband, Steve, loves baseball movies, and I, wanting to be a good wife
More than a team
By Kenneth G. Hodder, Commissioner - It is commonplace for corporations to refer to their employees as “the team.” Whether it’s because we want to create a sense that everyone has an important part to play, or we believe that using
Honoring lives etched into mine this Memorial Day
By Lisa Brodin Smith, Lt. Colonel - Lulu Turner Landon. David Longden. Eugene Landon. Cora “Poe” Hogan. George Washington Landon. All these names are so familiar to me, yet I’ve never met any of the souls to whom they belong. The
Whose plan is it?
By Jolene K. Hodder, Commissioner - After a hectic travel schedule, I recently asked my husband to take a long walk with me along the Rancho Palos Verdes, California, coastline. He quickly agreed. We threw on our exercise outfits, grabbed a
There is no higher calling
Phrases like “higher calling” may sound spiritual to our ears, but they are far from the truth of God. By David Witthoff - The pervasiveness of metaphor is evident in many kinds of sources, from news outlets to classical texts. One of
The melody is the method
Tune into God—the Lord has a song for every situation. By Justin Docherty, Captain - God moves us with his music. His rules are rhythms. More melodic than mechanical, they are not merely stated, but sung. His silences are the spaces between the
Who am I?
By Kenneth G. Hodder, Commissioner - “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” – I John 3:1 The questions are as old as mankind itself:
The gospel in the stars
By Jolene K. Hodder, Commissioner - “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matt. 2:2 ESV) In the 19th century, there was a theory
To the front
By Stephen Smith, Lt. Colonel - For those of us who are keeping track, the Western Territory turns 98 years old this October and since it is Commissioning weekend, I thought it appropriate to reflect briefly on the commissioning of the
AdultCon awakens ‘Darkest England’ in Los Angeles
The Salvation Army educates and ministers at annual Los Angeles AdultCon. By Erin L. Wikle, Lt. - Since its origin, there are few places The Salvation Army has been unwilling to go. Woven within the fiber of our being is “Darkest England”—the
The Word for today
By Kenneth G. Hodder, Commissioner - Devout Catholic that he was, Johannes Gutenberg could never have imagined that the printing process he perfected around 1450 would play a part in changing the nature of the Church itself. Yet movable type provided