Bil Aulenbach

I have a friend who says he reads the obituaries every day to check whether his name is there, and if it’s not, he moves on with his day. I enjoy reading obituaries. I start with the photos and note whether they look young. Did they die young, or is it a photo from their … Read more

I’m going to use some words that hardly anyone uses in public, especially when describing what happens to people at the end of their lives: die, dead, death. These are “shhhh words.” These words were triggered by a series of events: (1) August is Make-a-Will month. We just updated our will, which needs to be … Read more

Seven years ago, my church friend Craig started a theater group called the Wayward Artist, which aimed at staging edgy, provocative productions. Annie and I were among the original sponsors, and we have never missed one of its shows. The original theater was held at California State University, Fullerton. Last year the university did not … Read more

The June 2025 issue of AARP: The Magazine had an article that made me consider the subject of old age. Is age a number? An attitude? Is it influenced by one’s health? Or by how engaged someone is in their activities? What about mental capacities? I don’t think age is a number. I am ninety-three, … Read more

I’ve often wondered what terrible thing the forty-seventh president has to do to have some of his seventy-eight million supporters say, “Enough!” I need to make this very clear: I have never liked him. I watched his television show The Apprentice (2004–2014) once. I thought he was cruel and crude. Some people said he was … Read more

I never doubted God until I went to college. Then, during late-night talks and while under the influence, I decided that God is just a figment of man’s imagination. Why bother? The Korean conflict was happening while I was in college, so I joined the marines and confronted my mortality. My Sunday school god returned, … Read more

I had a computer geek come to our house, and very quickly, he told me that he was a born-again Christian—an organization that is steeped in double-talk—and that he believed Jesus died for his sins—again, more double-talk. That phrase always triggers a red flag for me, but I was paying by the hour, so I … Read more

I have been called anti-Semitic for years. I find that interesting because my Christ is Jewish, and the Bible I read was written by Jews and for Jews. The foundation stones of my faith are rooted in Judaism. I greatly admire the culture, race, and religion of Judaism. To me, however, there is a big … Read more

Until about two years ago, I could easily define the word Christian. Now, after seeing the rise of “Christian Nationalists,” I have no idea how to define a Christian, so I’m not going to bother. But I do know how to define a Follower of the Way. I see myself as a Follower, someone who … Read more

On June 17, 2025, at eight in the evening, Annie and I were seated at a restaurant outside overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach in Southern California. The sun had set, and Annie and I raised our glasses, toasting the start of our sixty-fifth year of marriage. For the past couple of days, we … Read more