Halloween and All Saints Day are twin occasions. One, through historical and traditionally cultural celebrations, points to the observance as All Saints Day, which focuses less on the macabre and more on the spiritual. One is no less an occasion for confronting the reality of death than the other. Halloween has come to be a […]
How are you doing with your grocery bills these days? Gas is down, so there should be more to spend for groceries, right? Depends on how you watch the prices and quantities at your local grocer. Are you eating more macaroni and cheese, hamburger helpers, crock pot meals, in other words, slicing the bread thinner? […]
How much of our attention is distracted by uninvited interruptions? And how much of the responsibility for that is given over to our own choices? The other morning when I was home alone, I chose to take a cup of coffee out on the front porch, a place too often ignored by most of us, […]
What about celebrating Thanksgiving early this year? No need to reiterate all the reasons why not. Even since last Thanksgiving, the mood of cynicism has taken on epidemic proportions. Yet, through it all, most who read this column are inordinately blessed. Sure, there are craters of despair, potholes of misfortune, dead ends, cul de sacs […]
Overcoming the onslaught of last minute desperate attempts to get our attention in this election is something of a challenge. Likely, there is counsel which may help us sort the wheat from the chaff. I rely on these basic premises: +Be aware in these waning days of the election, particularly for those who are lagging […]
Have you ever been on a limb that felt as if it wouldn’t hold you? Have you ever been in the water, when you weren’t sure you wouldn’t go under and not come up? Have your ever been on a trail and didn’t know whether you could find your way back? Well, that might just […]
It’s getting closer. Thank God and the rising and setting of the sun. In just days we will finally see the moment when the curtain falls and the election is over. Assuming there is no tie or contest in the outcome. Frankly, my intuition is moving toward the victory of one candidate. I am of […]
The flight from Phoenix to Dallas is only a couple of hours, but in those two hours lots can happen. Today I was introduced to two new friends. One was a physician/professor from Oakland and the other a middle school teacher and church music director from Houston. It was two hours of intellectual and generous […]
Sudden, unexpected, tragic! Family and friends of a well known couple were in shock when learning of their deaths in an automobile and motorcycle accident last Saturday. It stops anyone short, whether you knew those involved or not. The temporal nature of our brief lives faces us straight on. The departure of people you take […]
You may have noticed that this column took the weekend off. Well, its author anyway. There were two reasons. One, I just wanted to see if you would miss Senior Moments and two, we participated in a twentieth year anniversary celebration of the founding of a church in Tucson, Arizona. It was our joy and […]