I need to start by saying I am sorry. I am sorry that I have hurt you. I am sorry for careless words or actions which left you feeling hurt, overlooked, demeaned, ridiculed, devalued, disregarded, or even just misunderstood. Yes, you. I’ve noticed in a few recent interactions—first and third person—how easily we offend and…
I have a story to tell you. It started with our oldest daughter wanting a different vehicle. Her recent luck with used vehicles purchased in NY state is abysmal. Each of them were corroded by rust beyond the point of reasonable usage within a year of her acquiring them. So we decided to look for…
A lot can happen in two decades.1 When I posted my first “blog” 20 years ago this date, I was a musician, writing, recording, and performing my songs anywhere and everywhere across the country. I was a young, recently-married father of two (with one on the way) who preferred air-conditioned, indoor life. A cup of…
I identify with Martha. That might seem odd, in that I am a man, but I think I do. I’m not talking about any sort of gender identity crisis, mind you. Rather, as I was taking care of many details around my home today (which I find myself doing quite often) I was reminded of…
Marriage is hard. If you’re soon to be wed and you hear those words, you eschew them as the trite acrimony of bitter people. That will never be true for us, you say to yourself, sure of the truth of your conviction. Without fail, you discover that the union of two lives into one is…
A good friend remarked recently that death or dying came up frequently in our family’s conversations. His comment was more a good-natured jab, I think, as we were all enjoying funny thoughts and stories, joking around. But I have thought about that since. I wondered if we perhaps give death—one of God’s enemies, defeated by…
Righteous indignation on each side; blustery public diatribes backed by legal or biblical authority; verbal wars among foes and friends and family which take no idealogical prisoners—this seems to be the state of current events. But this tiny spider doesn’t seem to know, or care. She’s not angry, or justified, or changing the color of…
Beyond our bodies, we’re all the same. Lately I have had an interesting experience when seeing photos of people, current or historical. Somehow in my mind, I am seeing (thinking of?) the person beneath the exterior. Wondering at what unknown depths there are to that particular individual; wondering how we might be similar. Not that…
It seems like I am entering a new stage as a father. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say I’m already in the middle of it. Today is Father’s Day, and that has me thinking of what it means to be a father. It’s certainly not just this particular holiday that stirred these thoughts. My…
Do you notice that sometimes there are themes around you? I do. Every once in a while, many things around me (or even in me) will work in apparent concert toward some consistent message, idea, or theme. Lately, I am being pretty often reminded that life is full of new beginnings. And also that it…