Darrell Curtis

Light in Darkness: Remembering 9/11

Author’s Note: I wrote this before the shocking news of the murder of Charlie Kirk, which reminds me how fragile life is; as we remember 9/11, may we lean into the light that shines through even the darkest days. September 11 returns each year, a solemn weight in our collective memory. Nearly a quarter-century later,ContinueContinue reading “Light in Darkness: Remembering 9/11”

Who Was Charlie Kirk, and Why Should You Care?

Charlie Kirk’s death at Utah Valley University has left many grieving and reflecting. For me, his appeal was rooted in his Christian faith, his courage to stand for his values, and his ability to foster respectful dialogue in a divided world. His passing silences a voice that championed connection, integrity, and bold engagement—qualities worth rememberingContinueContinue reading “Who Was Charlie Kirk, and Why Should You Care?”

Think You Can’t Sing in Choir? You Absolutely Can!

I remember the first time, as a child, I sat in the pew and heard the choir carry a hymn into the rafters. I didn’t know then that it wasn’t just music—but it felt bigger than anything I’d ever heard before. Years later, I realized what I had experienced was a room full of voicesContinueContinue reading “Think You Can’t Sing in Choir? You Absolutely Can!”

Bad Moon Rising and the 8-Track Sounds of Childhood

I can still conjure it—the family’s tobacco-brown Pontiac Bonneville, the smell of leather warm from the mid-day sun, dashboard gleaming with chrome, at that age when I was still small enough to straddle the transmission hump. I felt part of the whole ride—the road ahead, the hum of the engine mingling with the faint whisperContinueContinue reading “Bad Moon Rising and the 8-Track Sounds of Childhood”

J. R. R. Tolkien Remembered: When the Last Ship Departed the Grey Havens

On September 2, 1973, J. R. R. Tolkien died in Bournemouth (a seaside town on the southern coast of England) at the age of eighty-one. The New York Times remembered him the next day as a “linguist, scholar and author of The Lord of the Rings,” a man who cast “a spell over tens of thousands of AmericansContinueContinue reading “J. R. R. Tolkien Remembered: When the Last Ship Departed the Grey Havens”