Whitney Houston funeral guest showing program to journalists (photo by Christine A. Scheller)

For more photos from Whitney Houston’s Homegoing Service, click here.

Trying to Get the Money Shot at Whitney Houston's funeral (photo by Christine A. Scheller).

More from Reporting on Whitney Houston’s funeral here.

• On Location at Whitney’s Farewell: What reporting on location at Whitney Houston’s semi-private, gospel-filled funeral taught me about spiritual battles, grace, and celebrity.
• Marriage Is for Black People, Too: Ralph Richards Banks’ book ‘Is Marriage for White People?’ made him the target of angry critics. Now, the author has his say about interracial dating, the link between fewer marriages and the crisis in black communities, and his take on conservative scholar Charles Murray’s latest book on class and race.
• Obama Birth Control Compromise Take 2: Activist Lisa Sharon Harper and ethicists Cheryl J. Sanders and Charles C. Camosy weigh in on the Obama administration’s contraception mandate accommodation.

My series at TheHighCalling.org on Aging Well with Dr. Dan Blazer included a wealth of information on caring for ourselves and our loved ones in the later years of life.

In article one, we learned that Dr. Blazer’s two years as a medical missionary in Africa shaped his decision to become a geriatric psychiatrist. He shared with us lessons he learned there that model how to treat the elderly.

In article two, we learned that the perception of old age as a depressing season of life is not confirmed by scientific research, but rather only 15 percent of older adults exhibit depressive symptoms. He shared with us foundations for good geriatric mental health.

In article three, we considered the role of perception in geriatric health. Dr. Blazer said the perception of poor health in otherwise healthy senior citizens is associated with depression and other predictors of mortality, while the perception of good health generally leads to better outcomes.

In article four, we looked at geriatric depression, learned how to recognize the symptoms, examined its social and biological causes, and considered treatment options.

In article five, we discussed the role of social supports in geriatric health and learned that listening to elderly loved ones’ stories not only enriches our lives, but helps them make sense of theirs.

In article six, Dr. Blazer shared his thoughts on a holistic approach to mental health and I shared a family story that demonstrates its importance.

• Jobs Report—Sunny With a Chance of Setback: Economists are cautiously optimistic about January’s sunny jobs report, but with unemployment still at historically high rates, should they be?
• Speaking Up for Homeless NYC Churches: Activists fighting a New York City public school worship ban complained to UrbanFaith that the city’s most influential pastors aren’t speaking up, but we found some who did. Plus: New York Senate introduces bill to overturn the ban.

• Obama’s Contraception Decision: Response has been fast and furious to the Obama administration’s announcement that there will be no conscience exemption in its health care law for religious organizations that oppose birth control. Here’s a round-up of opinions.
• Can the Tea Party and Occupy Movements Find Common Ground?  UrbanFaith invited a Tea Party supporter and an Occupy movement supporter to dialogue about areas of agreement and disagreement between the two groups. Can they find common ground to effect real change?
• T.D. Jakes, The Trinity, and The Elephant Room: At a gathering of evangelical leaders, Bishop T.D. Jakes said in an interview with pastors Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald that he now holds an orthodox view of the Trinity, but some folks are still not satisfied.

When my son first began exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and depression as a sophomore in high school, my husband and I both worked at a California mega-church whose leaders openly preached against psychiatry and psychology.

The message reached a wide audience— from the pulpit, over radio, through books, and at conferences—thus cementing in place a culture in which getting professional help for mental and emotional suffering was discouraged and stigmatized.

This was a new phenomenon for us, one that may have delayed our son getting the help he needed. After I heard about the third suicide of a young Christian that I knew back home in New Jersey, however, I no longer cared what my church community thought. I knew my son needed help and was determined to get it for him.

Nonetheless, I was concerned that the mental health practitioners who treated him would respect his tender faith and the spiritual dimension of his suffering, some of which was directly related to our family’s decision to respond to a vocational ministry calling with a cross-country move and to the culture of the church where that calling was initially lived out. …

Read the whole article at TheHighCalling.org.

Tyler Alyxander and Ina Kaplan at "A Night of Illusion" fundraiser.

I well remember when the thought that I could have AIDS first occurred to me. It was 1986 and I was newly married. I had gotten pregnant by an East African man two years earlier and my husband had fallen in love with both me and my baby.

All seemed well, until I began paying attention to the news that AIDS had first appeared in sub-saharan Africa among heterosexuals. I dutifully got tested, then waited anxiously for the phone call that told me I was not infected.

Other people I knew heard different news. There were whispers that a high school classmate who had been an intravenous drug user and died of a drug overdose had taken his own life after getting the diagnosis.

It was a scary time, especially for anyone who had been anything but virginal. …

Read the rest at Manasquan Patch.

• Whose Fault Is the “Cultural Divide”? When conservative pundits can’t agree on the dynamics of ‘lower-class’ dysfunction, perhaps it’s time to bring in Cliff Huxtable and the queen of talk.
• Dissecting the State of the Union:  Economic fairness was the theme of President Obama’s State of the Union speech last night, but campaign season partisanship is what some listeners heard.
• Gingrich Wins; Defends “Food Stamp President” Remark: Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich handily won the South Carolina primary Saturday, and did it after defending his controversial charge that President Barak Obama is the ‘food stamp president.’

Stories help us make sense of the world. True stories told by our elderly relatives help us understand ourselves, and the telling also helps the storytellers make sense of their lives, says Laity Leadership Institute Senior Fellow Dan Blazer, M.D.

“One of the most critical things a family can do is to try to recognize the value of an older person, and one of the best ways to do that is to get the older person to talk about himself or herself, or maybe write about himself or herself. Then actually pay attention to what they write,” Blazer said when The High Calling talked to him recently. …

Read the whole article at TheHighCalling.org.

• Celebrating Dr. King with Service: Rev. Dr. M. William Howard Jr. and gospel artists Richard Smallwood and Tye Tribbett reflect on the influence of MLK on their own lives of service.
• NYC Worship Protests Intensify: New York City clergy and council members invoke the Civil Rights Movement for their latest protest of the city’s policy banning churches from renting meeting spaces at public schools and city facilities.