Lives Shows Return with Common Ground Wednesday

    The Mike Allen Show goes back live January 2nd with Common Ground Wednesday guest and long-time friend Jamie Nally, a retired public school teacher, homeschooling husband and father, uber-Cat fan, and active member of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville.

    Besides breaking down the UK/UL game, Jamie and I will be discussing family life as a needed priority in our lives, as well as  his Sunday School lesson from this past weekend at Southeast Christian about St. Francis of Assisi's Sermon to the Birds, circa AD 1220, in which he declared to his winged friends:

      "My little sisters the birds, ye owe much to God, your Creator, and ye ought to sing his praise at all times and in all places, because he has given you liberty to fly about into all places; and though ye neither spin nor sew, he has given you a twofold and a threefold clothing for yourselves and for your offspring. Two of all your species he sent into the Ark with Noe that you might not be lost to the world; besides which, he feeds you, though ye neither sow nor reap. He has given you fountains and rivers to quench your thirst, mountains and valleys in which to take refuge, and trees in which to build your nests; so that your Creator loves you much, having thus favoured you with such bounties. Beware, my little sisters, of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praise to God."

 

    The purpose of Common Ground Wednesdays is to highlight the fraternal bond in Christ we share as Catholics and evangelical Protestant Christians, and the mutual gifts have to share with each other, which also being honest--and charitable-- about our very real differences. As Blessed John Paul II wrote in his encyclical, Ut Unum Sint (That They May be One), "Dialogue is not simply an exchange of ideas. In some way it is always an exchange of gifts."

    Jamie and I go way back to my days as a Methodist Christian and an active member in the vibrant youth group at Lexington's Centenary United Methodist Church, in which Jamie served as a young adult counselor (in other words, Jamie is a good bit older than me). I'll always appreciate the time Jamie invested influencing my faith and conduct as a growing Christian disciple. Few people can make me think--and laugh--as much as Jamie Nally.
 
   When I was living on campus at UK with my very close friend, Mike Burton (who would die of cancer only a few years later), Jamie made a habit of meeting us for breakfast at the UK Commons area to share conversations about sports and Jesus Christ. Though 25+ years have passed since we have lived in the same town, Jamie and I remain close friends, and I especially appreciate the fact that our friendship has not changed since my surprising journey to the Catholic Church.