Life – a cup at a time
We all face volcanoes in life, whether we realize it or not. The recent eruption of White Island/Whakaari in New Zealand has had me pondering this thought. Maybe it’s because I was there for Mt. St. Helens in 1980. For anyone who was in the Pacific Northwest, they can tell you exactly what they were …
Thanksgiving is one of those events than can be an emotional roller coaster. As a result, people seem to either love it or hate it. As a child, I loved Thanksgiving. Extended family would gather at our house, both leaves were added to the table, and the fancy linen tablecloth was brought out. Even when …
Just because you fail at something doesn’t mean you’re a Failure (even if it is a four-letter word). Failing is a part of life, which everyone — especially parents — need to remember. After seven years of managing an RV park, I decided to go back to the “regular” workforce last year. Through a friend, …
On August 31, 2019, my path crossed that of a mass killer. I live in Odessa, Texas, and was in the shopping area where most of the random shooting took place. Going from store to store on a hunt for a new outdoor grill, five minutes later at one intersection — or earlier at another …
Something shattered into pieces, Someone crushed them under foot. Somewhere the scattered pieces lay, Somewhen, long overlooked. Somewhen, an artist found them, Somehow he scooped them up; Someone loved with tender hands Something I had given up. Something forms beneath the artist’s touch: Mosaic full of grace. Someone else would never think to make Beauty …
Knowing when it’s time to say goodbye isn’t always easy. As peripatetic as my life has been, you’d think I’d be a pro, but instead (or because of all my moving around?) I still find it difficult. I began thinking about this when an old friend changed their profile picture on social media to a …
Change is inevitable. We all know that. So why do we fight it so much? From the moment we emerge from the warm, quiet security of the womb, we are bombarded with differences, and we cry. Lights, noises, and new sensations all announce that our world has changed, and it never stops. Not until we …
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, …
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 …
Expectations are tricky devils. We all have them. Sometimes they are called goals, or rules, or values, or job descriptions, but anytime they can fit into the sentence “I expect you to_____,” they are expectations. They can bring security and happiness or heartache and depression. Expectations helps us work together as a community. When we …