Walls Within and Walls Without

Why are people so passionate about walls? In an age of airplanes, drones, mass media, and the internet, physical walls are obsolete in the face of terrorists and opposing ideas. But walls abound, between nations, between neighbors, and within our own selves. As a child, I grew up learning that emotions weren’t allowed. “Quit crying, …

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The Cost of Being Right

We’re told as children to do the right thing, to fight for what is right and good. We get lulled into thinking that if you’re right, everything is going to be OK. But life doesn’t always work that way. Being right can cost us. Even righteous anger still has consequences. Let me illustrate. I recently …

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Migration and the Migrant Caravan

Much has been written, screamed and shouted about the “migrant caravan” during the last month or so, most of it overly simplistic to serve the agenda of any given speaker. As so often happens with an active migration, there are many agendas at play. First, we were told of the violence at the Guatemala-Mexico border. …

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Coping with Stress

We all have our own ways of coping with stress. If you’re like me, you probably have a mix of good, bad and neutral methods. I used to think I handled things pretty well over all. Then I got married and was quickly disabused of that idea. The last several months have found me employing …

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Glory and Grace

Like grace, glory is one of those words that can mean many different things, making it difficult to define. I’m not even going delve into all the definitions; however, I do want to explore briefly one type of glory that can be easily overlooked. When was the last time you looked around and saw glory? …

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The Myth of Helplessness

Whether facing a hurricane and flood, wildfire, volcano, loss of a job, or flat tire, we all have moments when we feel helpless. But I maintain we aren’t as helpless as we think. Often our cultural stereotypes are to blame. I’ve met countless men working away from home who are clueless when it comes to …

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Flat Tire

What good could possibly come from getting a flat tire? Friday night I was on my way home when I ran over something. While never expected, flat tires are nearly inevitable in west Texas. You’ve got the potholes, of course. Weather extremes and big, heavy trucks will do that. Then you have the road debris. …

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Never Again

“Never again.” Loaded with nuance, I have a hard time with these words. I first encountered them as a slogan in 1977, while visiting Masada in Israel. Masada is the mountain site of one of King Herod’s palace complexes, better known these days as the site where Israelite resistance fighters had taken refuge from the …

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Let’s Play!

Walking with the dog this morning, we rounded the corner of our yard to head in, and there was a cottontail bunny sitting in the road, about 150 feet away. The street was quiet, so I clicked off the leash and told Missy in a quiet voice, “Go get the bunny.” She looked around, not …

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Remembered with Integrity

Not all heroes have integrity, but most all who have integrity are heroes. During the non-stop coverage Sunday morning after the death of Senator John McCain, they replayed a clip from an interview after one of his presidential campaign defeats. The reporter’s question was, “How would you like to be remembered?” It’s one of those …

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