It was 2009 when I came across Somaly Mam’s heartbreaking memoir “The Road of Lost Innocence”, in which she described in detail her traumatic early years after she was taken from her family and village by a “family friend” into a foreign city to be first a slave, and then made a prostitute in...
Read more →
Last night, I started reading one of a number of short writing books I picked up over the last few months. At the turn of the year, I thought if I read more writing books, I’d write more, so I scoured a few writing book lists from decent sources on the internet for recommends....
Read more →I’ve been on a productivity kick lately. It could be that now that I am deep into 45, I hear the clock ticking more than ever, and since I do not have children, I am clamoring to create or craft something- anything- that will help me to feel that my life has been worth...
Read more →
Tonight after a good but laborious day at work, I came home and decided I had better keep on the project. Resistance tries to steer you away from creativity, Pressfield says. I sense that strongly now, and as I try to listen to my interests and intentions, I am also trying to hear Pressfield...
Read more →Soon shall come the day when every light goes out, when golden leaves quit falling, and lark and jay shall fail to sing. The water will not break against the rocks, the sun will finally surrender, and the moon will hide from sight. Alto and soprano will all be silenced, every lip will be...
Read more →
I had it in mind a year ago to take a rock-filled strip in my backyard and convert it into a garden dealie. Naturally, last summer, fall and winter came and went, and with the return of spring this year, the idea returned. And then it evolved- seeing some planter boxes in an open...
Read more →
It’s the middle of April, and so Easter is upon us again. Active in church, I can easily forget the big picture of it all, and so when Easter comes around, I try to take some time to remember- why is church important? Why do I pour so much time and thought into this...
Read more →While overall today was a well executed day, it was also a challenging one. I started the day working off of my newest to-do list, which I am trying to incorporate into my life because I so often need help getting things done, and I had two items on it that were going to...
Read more →
Today was a good day, and by all accounts, it felt that way from the get go this morning- despite another cat gift found in the front room. After dressing, I discovered that French Roast in the coffee maker is actually a blend that I like (with French Vanilla). At work, I felt like...
Read more →Today was a normal Tuesday in most aspects. I got up. I made coffee. I went to work. I had small group. It was different in two ways though. Before work, I had a medical appointment with a specialist whose office was on the west side, in a direction opposite from where I work...
Read more →
Regardless of anything else, I am always aware of time passing. I always have been. I’ve always had a sense that my life began at a point on a line, and at some point in the near or distant future, it will end. I know my days are numbered. I am fairly healthy right...
Read more →
In some seasons of my life, it can feel like being is divided into three layers. On the surface is the layer of action, where the day to day bustle of life happens. In the innermost one, people meet and share their souls, and find camaraderie and sympathy and compassion, and it’s there they...
Read more →Shortly after moving into my present home nearly two years ago, I would often find myself driving south on Wyoming to run errands on weekend mornings and see him. Out of place in my neighborhood, he would be walking north each time- a middle-aged African-American man with short wiry gray hair dressed in a...
Read more →My boss asked me this morning what I did this weekend, and I responded with a “not much”, because thinking about big activities, I didn’t really do much over the weekend. I watched a Lobo basketball game. I cleaned out the litter box. I ran a circuit with Thorson on the Loop. I paid...
Read more →I’ve had several good conversations with a work colleague this week about Christianity, and how it should impact a life. These conversations grew out of some reflections I had talking with a friend and also from considering the experiences shared by others I have known that felt similarly: Christianity is negative. The key complaint...
Read more →“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” ~ Luke 15:20 It’s been a good day, but my mind has wandered all over within it. I’ve thought about the...
Read more →