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
Hey ya’ll! Yes, that is a southern greeting! And yes, I am in the south. The southern portion of the Appalachians in Northern Georgia, more particularly, the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. When I say I am in the mountains, I mean I am in the midst of a majestic mountain… Continue reading
Honestly, I impressed myself just a couple of days ago when I said, “ I don’t need my opinions re-enforced, I need them to be challenged.” I patted myself on the back and felt very “woke.” So much goes into developing those opinions, our upbringing, our life circumstances, our friends… Continue reading
Kenosha, Wisconsin (pop.100,164, about 150,000 with suburbs)) is our nearest city at about 10 minutes away. We are there several times a week. It was a manufacturing city that has successfully re-invented itself as a distribution center and tourist destination. It’s growing. The downtown is rapidly redeveloping and the Lake… Continue reading
I’m a t-shirt, shorts, flip flop, beach sort of guy who likes it toasty outside and air-conditioned inside. This summer has miraculously come through. That’s downright rare to have consistently warm weather here in the upper Midwest on the shores of Lake Michigan. What a wonderful gift in the midst… Continue reading
Covid death and confusion. Deadly plague or sort of just the flu, but different. The U.S. leads the world, but in a bad way. Economy in the toilet. Workers with no jobs. Entrepreneurs and companies giving up the ghost. Schools, sports, even the NFL. No one knows what to do.… Continue reading
It’s demoralizing when you take a step in good faith only to find out that it was a mistake and then realize that we need to change your route. That’s where hundreds of thousands of people have found themselves in relationship to their faith and the institutional church. So, I… Continue reading
We just wished America a happy birthday. She is a magnificent lady, but she is starting to show her age. There are a few tell-tale signs that everything is not working as good as it used to. It is one of those concerns that I would like to address today.… Continue reading
The rage over George Floyd’s death at the hands of local police officers has consumed our national psyche as it revived the demand for racial justice and reformation of our law enforcement system. It was the recent spark that re-ignited protests, violence, as well as scoffing by some who just… Continue reading
The glue of our society is brittle. Under the pressure of various crises, the cracks have widened and things are beginning to break apart. A virus has killed over 100,000 Americans. Yet, we are re-opening the economy even though the number of cases (and deaths) is continuing to rise in… 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
Change We never really know what the future holds. Life can quickly change very unexpectantly. Irony A microscopic virus, a cousin of the common cold, killed thousands, crippled the economy, and confound the nations of the world. Its manner of spreading, coughing and sneezing, and its manner of abatement, handwashing,… Continue reading
The Super Bowl for Christians Only every year your team wins A big party with lavish religious productions A happy time with colorful eggs oddly laid by rabbits A celebration of new clothes and new life An empty cross and an empty tomb Hope. Life. Victory. Only this year is… Continue reading
Life has we have known it for all of our years has been suddenly and severely altered. If you are working, you are vulnerable. If you are locked down at home, everything about your daily routine has been changed. We feel like we are living in a syfy novel in… Continue reading
Response: any behavior of a living organism that results from an external or internal stimulus. What do our responses to this pandemic and our staying at home to lessen its impact tell us about ourselves? Honestly, I believe we tend to have an initial knee-jerk reaction that is more related to… 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
It’s an oxymoron. How can you be social and distant? Do social media and technology finally attain a higher purpose? Perhaps, though they have so many limitations. There is no substitute for physical proximity and eye-to-eye contact. Social distancing is an odd term. Very clear and very imperative in one… Continue reading
“Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.” – ancient Chinese proverb This is the post that I have been wanting (and dreading) to write for months. It violates that age-old admonishment to avoid discussing religion and politics. If fact, they may be the two most… 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
The call comes.Everything changes.A flurry of activity ensues. Sunken cheeks.Is she aware?Is she there? Each breath scrutinized.Sit and watch.Was there a slight change? Nurses care.Hospice explains.We speak words of love, not knowing if they are heard. Even the aids kiss her forehead as tears roll down their faces.Our hearts melt.We love their love. Faith and… Continue reading
We miss a lot. Life is busy. Let’s be honest, it’s hard not to think about what we are going to do next, even when someone is pouring out their heart to us. We can be so agenda driven that we only think about the end goal and regard the… Continue reading
We have all heard that it is unwise to talk about religion and politics. However, when you think about their far-reaching effect, it is unwise not to talk about religion and politics. We just need to learn how to do it without hating people or concluding they are crazy. Continue reading
Note: This is a synchroblog in which several people contribute their thoughts on the same topic. This time the topic is unity, how the church can foster unity among its various factions and our divided nation. At the end of this post is a list of links to the other… Continue reading
When it’s chilly outside, but warm inside. An opportunity to reflect just before the holiday chaos descends upon us. An occasion to gather together when there has been so much driving us apart. A timeout to appreciate what we have been taking for granted. A time to take stock of… Continue reading
The more I heard of Senator McCain’s story, the starker the contrasts became between the man who tried to become president and one who is president. One was born into a family of service with a glowing history of military careers. The other was born into a life of privilege… Continue reading
The deaths of Anthony Bourdain and Charles Krauthammer may be practically forgotten and long gone from the internet’s trending topics by now. Yet, they deserve to be remembered. They were artists who, to the best of my knowledge, never painted a portrait or sculpted a bust. They used words, reasoning,… Continue reading
Just above my computer screen are the wild dunes, home to gopher tortoises, anoles, geckos, and who knows what. Many of the sea oats have reached four or five feet in height and there is even a large cactus right in front of me. Here on the patio, the crows… Continue reading
Recently, I was face-to-face with someone I thought highly of and we were in the midst of a serious disagreement about political issues. It has happened several times with several people. While I enjoy a good open discussion, I don’t enjoy these encounters. In these situations, I am usually shocked… Continue reading
When Fox News anchor Shepard Smith was asked about the opinion side of Fox News in a recent Time Magazineinterview he ruffled some feathers when he replied: “We serve different masters. We work for different reporting chains, we have different rules. They don’t really have rules on the opinion side.… Continue reading
I am going to suggest what might seem like a strange, or even heretical source of spiritual authority, but first I want to consider the usual suspects. Many people are looking for something they can hitch their wagon to. They want to be able to point somewhere and say this… Continue reading
It’s overcast, but I think there will still be a nice view of the sunset from my backyard, which is currently the Gulf of Mexico. Life is tough sitting here barefoot on the cottage deck as I write about relaxing. The beach appears from here to be nearly empty. The… Continue reading
Our nation has had only one independent president. That’s right, only one who stayed out of the partisan fray and refused to be locked into a political ideology. He certainly had his principles and stuck to them, yet he understood the value of moderation. While non-partisan, he was far from… Continue reading
Our newspaper prints a summary of the obituaries on the front page along with celebrity birthdays. As I look as the obituaries, I say to myself, “older, older, older, younger, older, younger”, etc., depending if the deceased was older or younger than me. Then I glance at the celebrity birthdays… Continue reading
On March 3, 1991, in the wee hours of the morning three friends who had spent the night watching basketball and drinking were speeding on Interstate 210 in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. A California Highway Patrol unit gave chase, but the driver refused to pull over. The… Continue reading
Brian Zahnd is a pastor in my hometown of St. Joseph, Missouri, and he is about the same age as me. In his newest book, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Brian takes on some issues that have been mysterious and troubling for me, and countless others. The… Continue reading
Something beautiful happens in ditches and dining rooms. More specifically, it happens when we dig a ditch with another laborer and share our table with another diner. Chip Gains introduced me to that concept. Chip and his wife Joanna are the stars of the hit HGTV show, Fixer Upper. Chip… Continue reading
“After telling me how to live my life, who to love, what to believe, what not to believe, what to do and what not to do and now you sit back and the prostitutes don’t matter? The grabbing the you-know-what doesn’t matter? The outright behavior and lies don’t matter? Just… Continue reading
In this supposed golden age of television, I am having a hard time finding programs I want to watch. Having recently switched to Amazon Fire Stick and Hulu Live, I have found a few movies and series that are pleasant new discoveries, but it seems the vast majority misses… Continue reading
For about thirty years, I have thought something was wrong with the way we practice Christianity. At first, I thought the church’s methods were out of date. They were, but that was not the problem. Then, I thought the way we did church was sad proof that we didn’t… Continue reading
The market is up. Immigration is down. Some people are thrilled. Others think we are led by a scary clown. The United States isn’t. Divisions abound. Legislators are cowards. Or else they vote everything down. Congressmen and senators hold to the party line. They are such a letdown. Volatile… Continue reading
I have read and written so much about matters of faith for so many years that I finally got tired of it. I felt like that’s pretty much all I have to say on the topic. In the process, I fell in love with writing and began writing about other… 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
It’s so pervasive. Songs, shopping, Santa. Sometimes we feel it. Sometimes we don’t. Warm memories fill our hearts. Sad realities replay over again in our minds. It’s fun. It’s obligatory. Rooted in faith. Embedded in culture. Yet, it is real. Though, we have made it fake. It was… 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
My favorite breakfast place in the world is The Coffee Pot. What’s not to love? The food is fabulous, the menu interesting, the location full of character and charm, and the service is dependably friendly and efficient. So, I decided to meet with owners, Julie Zorn and Janis Barnhil to… Continue reading
