Musings

Former local Sean Dietrich (he recently moved to Alabama) is a columnist and novelist known for his commentary on life in the American South. In addition to Bay Life, his work has appeared in Southern Living, The Tallahassee Democrat, Good Grit, South Magazine, Alabama Living, the Birmingham News, Thom...

By Sean Dietrich The first concert I ever saw was the Oak Ridge Boys. I was 2 years old. Mama took me. I pooped my diaper while they were singing “Elvira.” My mother changed me at the foot of the stage as I was singing at the top of my...

By Pastor David Holland While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Luke 22:47-48 Jesus...

By Sean Dietrich 10:40 P.M.—New Year’s Eve. Hank Williams is on my radio. My wife is sleeping in the passenger seat. My coonhound is in the backseat. To bring in the year, we’ve gone for a drive on county roads that weave along the Choctawhatchee Bay. There are no cars out. The...

By Pastor David Holland And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the...

By Sean Dietrich Christmas Eve night. The mountains of North Carolina were giant silhouettes in the darkness. Sheriff Andy Taylor sat on the bench outside the courthouse, watching the stars. It had been a hard year. Maybe the hardest of his career. The sheriff was downhearted, which didn’t happen often. But...

By Matthew Vanderford Being a part of a community means different things to different people. As a public insurance adjuster, being a part of the community means being present for businesses, property owners, renters and contractors who’ve experienced damage, suffered loss and need assistance in reaching a fair insurance claim...

By Sean Dietrich It’s a few minutes until Thanksgiving. I thought I’d stay up and watch the clock change. I’m sipping tea, listening to gentle music playing in the background. I think it’s Bing Crosby, or maybe Nat King Cole. The volume is too low to tell. Either way, it sounds...

By Pastor David Holland “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed.” (Psalm 37:25-26, NKJV) There I stood in Capernaum, where Jesus once provided bread for the multitudes and...

By Pastor David Holland “So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” Luke 15:19-20 (NIV) As a little...