Nothing can violate my commitment to protecting and securing life through acts of love and compassion. So, if the state chooses to kill me, it is not the end for me; it is only the beginning.

“The phrase, “sanctity of life,” is an interesting development in discussions about reimagining policing, and it’s beginning to influence the culture of policing . . . Sanctity of life should be the foundation of de-escalation, use of force, and how we approach all calls for service.”

“Retirement is the filthiest word in the language. Whether by choice or by fate, to retire from what you do – and what you do makes you what you are – is to back up into the grave.” -Hemingway-

by James Copple Baseball is part of the warp and woof for most children raised in the suburbs of America in the 1950s and ‘60s. And as I watched the Washington Nationals upset the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series to win the championship title, the memories and thrill of it […]

by James E. Copple In 1960, I was 10 years old and living in the Ruskin Heights suburb of Kansas City, an idyllic community occupied mostly by veterans of World War II and Korea. The houses were all the same, with public parks and well-lit streets, and the neighborhood kids would gather on long summer […]

By James E Copple It seemed like big trouble at the time, but a battle about bologna sandwiches ended up being the foundation of a legacy I cherish. I was in fourth grade, and we were scratch-farmers living in Lee’s Summit, a Missouri suburb of Kansas City. We had a few horses, four pigs, about […]

By James E. Copple As Kenya Airways made its descent into Nairobi, the rising sun colored the eastern sky bright orange. Enveloped in morning fog, the beauty of sun-on-clouds painted an endless, boundless horizon — it’s a continent so rich in diversity and history, and I am thankful this place has been part of my […]

By James Copple 1. Impose universal background checks for anyone buying a gun, a measure that four out of five Americans support. 2. Impose a minimum age limit of 21 on gun purchases. This is already the law for handgun purchases in many states, and it mirrors the law for buying alcohol. 3. Enforce a […]

By James E. Copple In 1967, being new in my faith and rather naïve, I arbitrarily sent a letter to all the Nazarene Colleges in the United States (six at the time) that said the first school to offer me $600 in financial-aid would become the school of my choice. Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) was […]