John Graham's blog

I grew up in Shreveport, LA which was the home of the great pianist Van Cliburn.  As most know, Cliburn was taught piano by his mother who also taught many others in town.  Among them was Anna Jean Price whose father was pastor of Life Tabernacle.  Anna Jean was taught well and became an accomplished pianist in her own right.  She married and had five children, four beautiful daughters.  Two of her daughters, Vangie and Lydia, served as a receptionist in my medical office at the Plastic Surgery Center in Shreveport.  Both were incredibly intelligent as well as beautiful.  I loved having them work at my front desk so everyone would think I was responsible for their beauty.  I was not, of course; their beauty came from God by way of the Price family genes.  Not only is Lydia intelligent and beautiful, I recently learned she is also a gifted writer.  Read her essay on Van Cliburn and I think you will agree: http://luluslines.wordpress.com/

In the January 26, 2013 issue of The Wall Street Journal there is an interesting article entitled "Stress-Busting Smiles."  Clearly, we all know that smiling is great for our sense of well-being.  But, I suspect we think, "Well, if things were better in my life, I'd smile.  But, right now I don't have anything to smile about."  Okay, life is difficult.  That's what Scott Peck told us in The Road Less Traveled.  But, have you noticed there are always people who seem to have a smile on their face all the time, even though you know everything is not perfect in their life?  I have known people like that and what happens is they awaken a smile in the rest of us -- a smile is as contagious as a cold virus.  As the saying goes, "Laugh and all the world will laugh with you; weep and you weap alone."  That is actually the first line of a poem, "Solitude," by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1991).  I believe it contains a lot of wisdom.  Read the rest of the poem:{C}

On Tuesday, 2/19/13, ISH offered a panel discussion of the subject of "Spirituality in Alzheimer's Care."  The lecture room was packed wall-to-wall and nearly 70 were registered attendees.

On Friday, February 1, 2013 our nation remembered the tenth anniversary of the death of seven brave astronauts when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on its descent from space.  Many in Texas were especially touched by the experience, as debris rained down from the heavens.  Large pieces of the shuttle gave a loud whistling sound and thud as they crashed into the ground.  Many thought our nation was being bombed.  After a memorial service following the crash, a pastor when to every site where astronaut remains were recovered in Sabine County near the Louisiana border with Texas.  At each site he 

ISH held our 21st annual Psychotherapy & Faith Conference on Friday, Nov 16, 2012 with a packed house filling Fondren Hall at St. Paul's United Methodist Church, in Houston.   The theme for the conference was Happiness & Suffering:  What it Means to be Human.  Our speakers were terrific and after every talk people from the audience of 300 expressed to me their raving approval. "I am so glad I came."  "Just wonderful."  "I loved every minute."