My story could possibly be a little like your story. If that is the case, then it could do both of us some good for me to write this stuff down.
Christmas 1981 The news hit us hard. Everything in our busy lives faded from our minds as our thoughts were consumed with one new haunting fact. Patty had a large tumor that required a hysterectomy. She was twenty-five. We got married very young. Patty was only eighteen. I was all… Continue reading
I have been wanting to write about this for so long that I am now only two months from turning 7 – One. I remember the milestone birthdays, 40, 50, 60, 70, especially seventy, though 50 was interesting, since it was at Chucky Cheese. When I was a kid, if… Continue reading
About 300,000 people move out of Illinois every year, for a net loss of 116,000. We are moving out of Illinois. About 226, 000 people move to Tennessee every year. The net gain is 43,000. We are moving to Tennessee. I have a few people to “blame” for this: My… Continue reading
It is so easy to enumerate what I am done with when it comes to religion. It is profoundly more difficult to figure out what to hang onto. I feel like I should occasionally ask myself that question to see if I am total heretic or just a free spirit. … Continue reading
I feel like I need to write a disclaimer every time I write a post that is critical of the institutional church. I write about my experience over several decades, both very much inside the church and outside of it. I am not mad at anybody. There are no “sour… Continue reading
Yes, you are correct, it has been a long time since I have posted here. Yet, the mistress/addiction/passion called writing is always beckoning. I have continued to take assignments from the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida for their digital and print magazines which has been a fun learning experience for… Continue reading
I used to think that I would never be, could never be, bored. Only boring people get bored, was my thinking. Yet, I am presently a little bit bored. I can’t finish tweaking our basement remodel, because it is still being worked on by the contractor. I have a little… Continue reading
Writing is my therapy. So, as I kick back on the couch, would you mind asking me “And how does that make you feel?” every once and a while? I appreciate it. I get anxious sometimes, even depressed. I have some good runs, some for weeks, sometimes months. Other times, I… Continue reading
What makes a great story? You have to have a protagonist, someone who has a good heart. He is determined to solve the crime and get the bad guys off the street. He works really hard at being a good father and husband. She is unafraid to stand up to… Continue reading
Today will be a departure from the COVID pandemic of disease, information, misinformation, varied projections, confusing advice, and conspiracy theories. Instead, I want to talk about my gallbladder. Hold on there, partner! Don’t skip to the next marvelous insight from the internet because much wisdom came from my encounter with… Continue reading
Our lives have suddenly changed in unexpected ways and it’s been unsettling. Even though we are more separated from one another, we realize that we are all in this together. That fact has generated a spirit of compassion. People are asking one another, “How are you doing?” So, how are… Continue reading
Ever notice how the cows all face the same direction in the pasture, but there is one that didn’t seem to get the memo and is separate from the herd doing his own thing? That’s me. I dislike housing tracts where the nearly identical a dwellings are crammed in close… Continue reading
A few years ago, when I was having some back pain, I got a call from my doctor’s office informing me of the results of my x-rays. The nurse who was probably not as old as some of my clothes, informed me I had osteo arthritis. I was shocked and… Continue reading
I tend to rise to the occasion for the big things, for the crises. But I get worn down by the little things, the things that drag out and go on and on. Last week little things got to me. It was cold and the snow-covered ground had officially become… Continue reading
I am back in the saddle again. I am thinking more of the old Gene Autry song than Aerosmith here. (They also had a song with that title.) It seems to be a tune about a person doing what he loves. The previous year was a year of challenges for… Continue reading
The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl last night after a fifty-year drought. But does it really matter? If I didn’t know better, I would think the NFL was enterprise invented by billionaires, lawyers, and modern-day gladiators. It is an American oddity. The world has soccer, known elsewhere as… Continue reading
It’s time to hang the new calendar on the wall! it’s a good time to briefly celebrate the victories, recall the blessings, forgive those who have hurt us, forgive ourselves as necessary, and move on to 2018. For the new year, I have adopted three values that I want to… Continue reading
Do you have a mantra,a frequently repeated word, formula, or phrase, often a truism? I do. It has been my personal focus for quite some time. I wrote it down and remind myself of it daily. Here it is. Peace. Love. Joy. Peace. I am at total peace with God, so I will be at peace with… Continue reading
One of my gifts as a writer is being to identify what is wrong. Unfortunately, it is a common gift. Most people need very little prompting to complain because it is vastly more difficult to suggest a positive way forward and become part of the solution. It is time for… Continue reading
I felt alive yesterday. Today, too, for that matter. By the way, just because you are alive, doesn’t mean you feel alive. Our winter has been mild. It snowed a few times in December and was quite cold, but January and February have been odd months; mild, thirties and forties… Continue reading
Sometimes life gets our attention. In fact, it may be God who is getting our attention. Sometimes something happens that forces us out of our regular pattern of activity and causes us to reflect. I’m there right now. My dad’s death was a big part of the things that got… Continue reading
Have you ever surprised yourself? What I am really talking about is change. I usually fight change, but appreciate it in retrospect. I used to think that art museums and galleries were a waste of time. Now I am the one who who moves the slowest when we visit one.… Continue reading
It’s a good thing to evolve, to change, to adapt, to develop, to grow. The alternative is to stay exactly the same. There are some people would say there is great virtue is staying the same. Talk of evolving is unappreciated heresy. They already have things all figured out, so… Continue reading
I recently celebrated my sixty-second birthday. Those words, sixty-second, seem incredibly foreign to me. I feel like I ought to be in my mid forties or even younger. Part of me doesn’t mind being sixty-two at all. Part of me can’t believe that I am sixty-two. I don’t know what happened.… Continue reading
Living in “the now” is a big challenge for many of us. I love those year-end-review TV shows and newspaper articles. Even though I lived it, I always forget so much of what happened and I am informed for the first time about some of the important events of the previous twelve months.… Continue reading
I am writing a novel. It’s one of my many pursuits, right now. I am not sure where it is going, I just know it is therapy for me. It’s only been recently that I have ever thought about writing fiction. Not long ago I never thought I could write… Continue reading
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman I that is true, then I have been at least half dead now for quite awhile. My focus has been… Continue reading
You may hate me after you read this. If you do, you won’t be alone. My hate mail file has suddenly gotten rather thick, after a recent post. For decades, I have endured the disdain of church members who felt their church was drifting out of their control under my… Continue reading
This post is a follow-up to “Preoccupied Pastor.” I’m not there yet, but I have mellowed out tremendously. I wonder why? Well, I couldn’t have been wound much tighter. Mostly, I mellowed out because I had no choice. Things happened, unexpected, unwanted things. Different kinds of people came into my… Continue reading
I am absent minded! I loose tract of my eyeglasses and my beverage everyday. When I get ready to go somewhere, I often return to the house from the garage to pick up something I should have taken with me. Behind the wheel, if I am in conversation, or deep… Continue reading
It’s hard to remember, and it’s not just due to my age, or getting so lost in a thought that I forgot which route I took to get home. Our culture is not given to remembering. It’s more about what’s trending on Twitter at very this moment. So, this month’s… Continue reading
Within days, the sump pump quit, as did the furnace. The toilet overflowed. The car still won’t start, and the furnace went out again this morning when it was -9. There was also a big disappointment concerning a business opportunity, and a few other things happened that seemed to do… Continue reading
Ah ha! Gotcha! You thought this article was going to reveal some deep, dark secret about me. It does. I have a confession. Hello, my name is Glenn, and I am addicted to writing. Oh, the weight that was just lifted from my shoulders. I have been preoccupied with other… Continue reading
Boyd & Ava chillin’ in a chair I didn’t know if it would work. We had inherited two long-haired Chihuahuas. Due to no fault of their own, we were their fourth home. They are siblings, brother and sister. While they are off-the-charts cute, they are also needy, attention hogs, who… Continue reading
I talked to my Dad last Saturday on his eighty-eighth birthday, and he was surprising like his old self, chatty and congenial. What a relief. For so much of his recent years he has lived in a state of agitation. Contentment has been something he rarely experienced. Hence, much of… Continue reading
Yesterday, my Dad was kicked out of his nursing home due to bad behavior. Today, he is being transported to a Geriatric Psych Unit, a few miles from his home. His diagnosis: Vascular Dementia. Patty’s Mom had the same diagnosis. Mom’s was caused by a stroke induced by a common… Continue reading
Warning: This post involves time travel, which may affect the space-time continuum, thereby, altering the very course of human history forever. Great Scott! My monthly synchroblog assignment necessitated time travel to answer the question that holds the key to what I have been learning the last twenty years of my life.… Continue reading
I was in a funk, terribly bored by the Internet, television, and movies; despising the regular patterns of my life. The more I dreamed of something that would bring a glimmer of life to my soul, the more unattainable it seemed. Fear was holding me tightly, even though I hardly… Continue reading
We all need a personal resurrection. After all, there are a lot things trying to hold us down and keep us from being our best, truest, most unique self. This month’s broad synchroblog topic is simply New Life. (See the other posts on this topic listed at the end of… Continue reading
I just turned sixty a few days ago. My Dad is eighty-seven, my mom, eighty-five. It is a bitter sweet time in life. Sweet because my relationship with my parents is the best it has ever been. They need my help, and though, it can be challenging at times, I… Continue reading
Image by Nicholas Canup. Creative Commons This is not what I was going to write about today, but life can change things. Just a few minutes ago I was on the phone talking to a loved one (not an immediate family member) trying to arrange a way to help them… Continue reading
This post is part of a synchroblog in which the contributors tell their own faith story. The links to the stories of the other contributors are listed at the end of this post. How did you answer the Facebook profile question about your religious preference? I couldn’t think of any… Continue reading
The sun is making my computer screen hard to see as I sit here at our patio table in the backyard. I feel good, especially good, since I had a run of several days last week when I didn’t feel well. I was not suffering from anything physical and, as… Continue reading
This post is part of a synchrobog in which we recount our favorite prank. The links to the other writer’s contributions are listed at the end of this post. After work, the kids and I met Patty at Giordano’s, a deep dish, Chicago-style pizza place in a neighboring suburb. Upon… Continue reading
When you’re stumped, when you have writer’s block; write about that. That’s a paraphrase of what Bono said about said songwriting. I can always think of something to write about. This blog is evidence of that fact. But I do feel a little flat. I feel like I need a challenge,… Continue reading
Yesterday, I tried to remove all evidences of winter from my property. I picked up the maple sticks that had fallen in the yard, as well as the dog poop. Both had been held in the icy clutches of the snow and re-frozen snow that became ice for months. I… Continue reading
I am sitting here is the darkened breakfast room of The Holiday Inn Express adjacent to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. It’s almost eleven at night. I am out here so my mom has a dark and quiet room to try to get a head start… Continue reading
I have to tell you what happened while we were in St. Paul enjoying Thanksgiving, our grandson’s birthday, and our daughter and son-in-law’s anniversary, all between last Wednesday and this Sunday. First, I asked a neighbor to take care of our crazed cat and watch over the place while we… Continue reading
I usually think about values in terms of my obituary, what I would want people to remember about me when I am gone. I would like them to say: He was real. Pretension makes me nauseous, and sometimes I am nauseating, but my goal is to be real. Being real gives other… Continue reading
My faith is unconventional to say the least. I have been a pastor for over twenty years, but I no longer “go to church.” I have read and studied each book of the Bible and I have taught several of them in great detail, but I don’t read it much… Continue reading
