We lived in an urban area, Boston area. There wasn't any grass, so we went out in the

street, I begged him. I was trying to become a decent little league player. I was 11 years

old. And just said, you know, please play catch with me. And so he reluctantly came out.

He was very interested in more in reading. He reluctantly came out through a ball that bounced

twice. I should have stopped it, but I missed it and kept rolling and rolling. And as I'm going

to retrieve it, I yelled back over my shoulder, why didn't you throw it straight? And thus,

following original sin and blaming someone else, retrieve the ball, look back, and my father was

walking in the house. Because, you know, he didn't like being yelled at that way, but that was it.

We never played catch again, so we played, yes, a 10th or a hundredth of a catch.

That's how Marvin Alaska begins his new book, Lament for a Father, the journey to understanding

and forgiveness. It's a deeply personal story about misunderstanding, missed catches, and ultimately

God's grace. I'm Warren Smith, and today you're listening in on my conversation with World

News Group Editor-in-Chief Marvin Alaska.

Support for listening in comes from some merit in ministries, a community of Christians who

care for one another spiritually and financially when a medical need arises. Members like Kelsey,

who was diagnosed with breast cancer, while she had many decisions to make, how she was going to

pay for her medical bills was not one of them. And she had the freedom to choose the treatment

that was best for her. You can watch Kelsey's story at samaritanministries.org slash world podcast.

To regular readers of World magazine, or even listeners to this and other of world's audio

programs, Marvin Alaska likely needs fair little introduction. In addition to his work as editor-in-chief

for World, he's been a college professor, a college provost, advisor to the president of the United

States and members of Congress. He's the author of more than 20 books, books which include

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