I remember the flames dancing on the next ridge. A raging forest fire was threatening our little mountain community of Wilson, Wyoming. The firefighters were throwing everything they had at the fire, but the winds whippped the flames into a full fury. They warned us to be ready to evacuate. We looked around at our possessions — at the things we had accumulated over two decades and wondered, “what was worth taking?” There was surprisingly little we packed for the Jeep that... Read more
“Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back — in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself.... Read more
Do I really want to hear the truth? Or do I want others to feed me what I want to hear? I once had a job that I just wasn’t qualified to do. No amount of training or effort would ever make me improve. I just wasn’t cut out for it. That ceiling was a painful one to bump into, every hour of every day. I needed someone to tell me the truth.There are certain physical features that I can’t readily admit.... Read more
Read the newspapers. Listen to the news. Participate in the chatter. This world is in chaos. Terrorism. Unemployment. Uncertainty. It’s chaos out there. And we are quick to find targets: The Democrats. The Republicans. The UN. The corporate world. What’s even worse is the hopeless feeling that we can do nothing about any of this. We are pawns in the power broker’s game. Pushed around. Nearly a century ago, The Times of London asked G.K. Chesterton and several other eminent... Read more
“It’s not foresight or hindsight we need. We need sight, plain and simple. We need to see what is right in front of us.” — Gordon Atkinson, Real Live Preacher It all started when I was a young man. I spent hours looked at Life magazine, the photos of men in action, wondering what I would be when I grew up. Photo by Smiley, with permission Sure, like plenty of other boys, I wanted to a fireman. Then it was a doctor.... Read more
Reading the Gospels has a way of tweaking all my emotions. I love the stories about fish and figs, crops and coins. And who doesn’t like the healings and feedings and miracles? Personally, I get a real charge when Jesus thumps the religious elite. “Take that you two-faced pompous twit!” But then, there are those passages — you know, the ones that you cannot possibly apply to someone else. “Love your enemies. Do good to those that hate. Pray for those... Read more
To all those who labor, and struggle in life, may you find rest this Labor Day. I always play this song on Labor Day. It’s a happy song of restoration. It’s a celebration of work and of life. By The Call, whose prolific leader Michael Been recently passed away, these lyrics speak to all of us with resounding hope. Here’s to the babies in a brand new worldHere’s to the beauty of the starsHere’s to the travelers of the open... Read more
There’s a folder in my desk stuffed with letters – some 40 years old or more. Despite the passage of time, the handwritten swirls of ink from friends and family continue to inject wit, understanding and love. Within these folded pages are the annals of people who make an impact in my life. Photo by Marcy Earley In these days of e-mails, status updates and tweets, we have lost the meaning of the letter. The impersonal world of the instantaneous leaves us... Read more
My grandfather lived just a couple of miles from Coloma, California where James Marshall discovered gold and led to great rush of 1849. I remember riding my bike along the riverbanks where the nuggets first settled in Marshall’s pan, making a poor man instantly rich. Thousands of people descended upon the region, arriving with the expectation – not the hope – of striking it rich and becoming wealthy. Ironically, it wasn’t the miners who generally struck it rich – it was the men who... Read more
It’s almost old news now, but I can’t seem to shake the image of Jet Bue flight attendant Steven Slater exploding in anger, screaming profanities, and with a final, “I can’t take this anymore,” slid out the emergency exit on the JFK tarmac. Whoa! First of all, anyone who quits a job in this economy is not thinking straight. Certainly, there are thousands of other flight attendants who are doing just fine and would never think to quit. But there... Read more
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