From time to time people will ask, "How long does it take to write a sermon?"

Generally, I cannot attach a specific time to the preparation of a particular sermon. Every sermon is a composite of everything a preacher has read and studied on a subject.

In the case of this particular sermon, however, I can give at least a general response to that question:

This sermon was begun more than twenty years ago.

It began when I was in college, and it began under unlikely circumstances.

Our professor of English assigned a series of readings on a young American doctor in Southeast Asia, Thomas Dooley.

As every person who has ever been a student knows, a school assignment is always suspect. Such an assignment usually means that a subject is dull, dull, dull.

Consequently, I approached the task …