This picture reminds me of a childhood experience. An uncle offered me a choice between two coins: a nickel or a dime. He didn’t include a quarter. Of course I took the nickel. You know why. I was 5 years old. My awareness for the respective value of things was pretty much oriented towards ‘Bigger…
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“You can do it . . . !”
“You can do it, Ron! You can do it!” Mile 17 or 18 of the New York City Marathon. What’s often called ‘hitting the wall.’ A point in the 26.2 miles where a runner longs to just collapse into a fetal position on the sidewalk. I had already shifted into an even slower gear than…
Mark and Crystal
It struck me how Mark was sitting with such a nurturing posture. His arms were comfortably surrounding Crystal with warmth and security. It reminded me of Jesus tenderly holding a lamb. If you can, enlarge the picture to see Mark and Crystal’s eyes, a window to the soul. Both have that look of pain from…
A Tale of Two . . . – “Can’t we all just get along?”
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1792). “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season…
Repenting of Religion
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian in Germany, was killed by the Nazi regime just weeks before liberation of the prison camp by Allied troops. In his relatively brief life, Bonhoeffer set out a path for what he called ‘religionless Christianity.’ It was a call to reject ‘religiosity’ and embrace a living and active…
On ‘Repenting of Religion’
Note: This piece is an extension of the material in ‘Repenting of Religion.’ You may want to start there. (see Bookshelf). Repenting of Religion by Greg Boyd Boyd tees up against the deficiencies of organized religion. As a successful pastor, he is obviously trying to build the Church and local community of faith in positive ways….
To Swear or Not to Swear, . . . That is the question
I know, it may be ‘cheesy’ to do a spin on Shakespeare’s ‘to be or not to be.’ But it makes the title more appealing than ‘Language Used at Work, at Home, and Everywhere Else‘ (my original title). My personal history with ‘swear’ words is pretty conservative. When our son was in his mid to…
On ‘Just because I could . . .’
Postscript (February 2026) For the backstory on my comments below, first read “Just because I could . . . a thing called ‘Power’.” In May 2025, a town hall meeting was called in protest to the sudden ban of all boats on the lake. The Park Superintendent who made that fateful decision was brave enough…
‘Almost there . . .’
It was a 5 kilometre community run for a cancer charity. I had just started distance running (at age 55) and was testing my speed intervals in preparation for an upcoming longer run. Approaching the last kilometre, I overtook a young man who was slightly swaying from side to side at a slow pace. I…
I started writing poetry today
I needed some place to put the sadness. The Lady in Blue I didn’t want to be forward.She should have been beautiful – blond, young, slim, poised.But disturbed.Here we were in our little room with two open ends.She, me, an elderly man pursing his lips and blinking his eyes.Waiting to be called to see the…