Clear Water
What benefit to ourselves, others and creation could we see if we shut everything down one day a week?
Dumb Slap! When Jesus Doesn’t Work, Part II
If we don’t obey the basics, how can we expect to participate in the richer treasures of God?
The Problem with Joel Osteen
Amidst all the finger wagging and name calling what ends up happening is we start feeling good about ourselves, even when we should be doing more, because let’s face it, we’re not as bad as he is!
Casting a Long Shadow.
Remember, success is intentional!
Well, to be perfectly precise, Sir Winston The Great! He’s our ten-year-old, West Highland Terrier. He’s quite the character. Seventeen pounds of pooch with a ton of passion. He’s the embodiment of the phrase, little body, big heart. We were on a walk the other day, and we stopped for a moment to catch our breath. It was quite warm, and the pavement radiated heat like a furnace. I saw and captured a photo I’m including with this post. It made me think of all the years gone by with this big-hearted dog.
Winston is the second of our two Westies. The older, wiser, more cautious Reilly, aka The Wonderful Mister O’Reilly (it has nothing to do with the political pundit!), is deliberate and calculated. He’s never run into a wall chasing a ball. But he has slid off the edge of the couch while sluggardly sleeping on his back. But Winston, well, let’s put it this way, if Winston were our first dog, we wouldn’t have two...
Pregnant...With Cancer.
Facing a terrible, seemingly insurmountable ordeal? This too can be a great blessing.
I’m always on the look out for writing topics. That’s why the parenthetical title of this blog is, All Who Wander Are Not Lost. In my “wandering” I’m always looking for things of this world and connections to the internal or spiritual. Often those revelations serendipitously appear like an ice cube down the back on a hot August day - very startling yet amazingly refreshing. Most of the time, they’re subtle and shy, slow to develop and emerge. I had two ideas brewing for this week’s post. One was on Sabbath and the other focused on my dog, Winston. However, what I’m about to share is the proverbial ice cube on the spine.
I'm part of a speaking cluster meeting every month since January. At gatherings, a guest presents techniques to improve our public pitches. Then, after lunch - today we were allocated a mere 13 minutes - we circle up listening to just a few in the group for 5-minute rotations. Today started off with a curve ball. Instead of 5 minutes and prep time, we’d have a minute-and-a-half to tell a story from our life, extemporaneously.
A good friend went first and did wonderfully relaying a story about his wife and kids. Next, Andrew went and spoke about The Boston Red somebodies or other. It was good, but not New York Yankee good. Somewhere in the pit of my soul, I knew I was next and, sure enough, Dave the Moderator, came through. And of all the things I could’ve talked about, I chose a rather heavy topic.
About two years ago, actually it was August 4, 2015, my wife and I walked, hand-in-hand, out of the hospital towards our car, in complete silence. I don’t remember much other than beelining to the vehicle. I opened her door - in silence. Inserting the key into the ignition, I started the engine and we drove out of the parking lot - in silence. We weren’t too far down the road when I spoke to Kris with a raspy voice. “Well, I guess if, ‘we can be pregnant,' then ‘we can have cancer.’” Silence...
It’s okay to be a pansy.
Blooming where you're planted, when wedged between two hard places may be more beneficial than we think.
Don’t Be A T-Rex! Breakfast and Dinosaurs
When our doctrine, regardless of our religion, outsizes our compassion, we are truly out of balance.
Not a Snowball's Chance!
Persistence. It doesn't come naturally to everyone. But it's an asset everyone should develop. It often makes the difference between living and thriving!
Where the Buffalo Roam. The Power of Encouragement.
But just because you’re not gifted, or it doesn't come naturally, doesn’t mean you can’t be encouraging. Encouragement can make or break your plans. Don't make excuses, get good at encouraging!
Skunk Boy Strikes Again!
No one likes getting skunked. But once we embrace the fact that getting skunked is part of living, how we handle it becomes the real issue. When we learn or choose to respond rather than react, we allow for process to engage, not outburst. We can control stress rather than letting it control us.