My wife just said: “I hope all the churches in Allen were full of worshipers Sunday, like we were.” And indeed, if all the churches were full (and I would be surprised if they weren’t) then a lot of Allen folk celebrated Easter last Sunday, like they should, in Church. In spite of what some may say, America is still a Christian Nation which is a good thing for Christians and especially those who have different beliefs. America is still the home of the free. Free to worship whoever and whatever they wish. Islamic folk would probably beg to differ. At least some that I have known would. Many of them are raised to believe that Christians are just as “bad” as the Jews. Some think anyone not believing in Islam are evil, devils and should be killed.

Most Islamic people do not believe in these bombing raids and attacks on Christians, such as happened in Sri Lanka this past Easter Sunday where about 300 innocent Christian people died while doing nothing more than worshiping their God. Much of the Islamic world, however praised these acts. The book of Revelations speaks of the “end times” where Christians would be beheaded. Sounded a little far-fetched to me but in these times we see it happening.

Can these attacks on churches happen in Allen? Sure. Last year there were 385 churches burned down or attacked in the US. Many of these attacks took place during church services and many died while they were at worship. Most of the larger churches have placed some levels of security in place to protect their people as they worship. Smaller churches that can’t afford to hire guards can for sure take some steps that aren’t costly. It wouldn’t hurt to have periodic meetings with your ushers and give them some idea of what they might do. It is, after all, a brand new world.

There’s a lot of good things happening in Allen these days. The school’s construction projects seem to be coming to a close. The most notable being the Allen Gym. This building has shaped up to be a visual game changer. It has changed the looks of downtown quite a bit. I sneaked into the new facility last week and see the wood floor has been installed. The chair-back seats are in place and most of the construction is winding down. I’m sure the gym will be a place we can all take pride in and I look forward to next year when the building will come alive with basketball play and Mustang fans cheering their teams on.

I didn’t try to exactly locate the popcorn stand yet. I know it will be there -- someplace -- and from there I hope they can pop as good a corn as they did in that old Gym. As I scanned the new building I tried to decide where I would park myself and my popcorn and my pop as I relax in a padded seat with a back on it and enjoy some Mustang basketball. It won’t be too long from now, you know.

I couldn’t tell much about the grade school add-ons nor are there very many indications about the new Middle School building (enclosing the old high tech building) but for sure, it shouldn’t leak this time.

And pretty soon we will have Allen High School graduation. This year we’re graduating some very outstanding people. Some of the girls are athletes excelling in softball and basketball. They have just nailed together a winning season of softball. I didn’t realize they were really this good, but I did note that we have -- as always -- the prettiest girls playing softball and basketball in the whole state. One of these outstanding girls is my pretty granddaughter, Meegan Costner. Congratulations, Meegan. And guys, you look good too. I am very proud of you all.

Hope all of you have a good week and go to church Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh

waynebullard@sbcglobal.net