We’re too busy to have faith. It’s a fact. Our days start earlier and earlier, and we work until the night before we think about going to sleep. We are surrounded by machines that are supposed to make our lives easier, yet somehow, we work more. We have become project-driven and don’t have a big-picture vision. So, was it simpler a hundred, a thousand, two thousand years ago? Read more
For some incomprehensible reason, I woke the other morning with “For the Beauty of the Earth...” running through my mind. No matter what I did, what I was thinking about, what I was watching or doing, it was constantly in the background. Then it dawned on me. I was watching some of the events a few days earlier commemorating the anniversary of D-Day. Read more
When I was a much younger man, I used to pop in my eight track tape (I only had one at the time), roll down the windows of my 64 Chevy Impala, and crank up the volume to song number four—“Calypso.” I’ve always been a sucker for a good seafaring tune or shanty. “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” and “Come Sail Away,” and today “Soon May the Wellerman Come” are some favorites that will make me stop, smile, and slap my thigh with the beat. Read more
I once knew a guy who loved to sit at home and talk about all the places he wanted to go and things he wanted to do. He talked about going to Paris and walking along the Seine while finding the perfect place to set up a coffee cart that would cater to tourists. He would start by renting a little flat in the Latin Quarter, find the right immigrants to buy the coffee beans from, and set up a little roastery. The next week he’d be mentally traveling to Morocco, or Madagascar, or Madrid, where he would start a business, and like a mustard seed, it would grow into a large company that would one day split off into a chain of shops. Read more
We’ve all worked with and for people who either rub us the wrong way or that we love to be around. Many times, the people we gravitate toward have the same character we do. But what does having character mean? And why is having a good character important? When I was a much younger singer in the world of opera, I would do audition after audition after audition in hopes of landing one or two roles with companies anywhere in the world. During an audition, you put yourself out there. You are completely vulnerable to everyone in the room. Your looks, size, age, and deportment are being judged before you even open your mouth to sing. Then, when you finally are able to show what you have to offer, you are judged, compared, and ranked like a prime piece of USDA prime beef or scrapple. Read more
What is “real happiness,” and when will you know if you have it? And what’s the difference between happiness and joy? These are age-old questions, and answers depend on who you ask. My grandpa used to say, “You’ll know happiness when you don’t have it anymore.” And a friend said, “I’ll only know joy when it kicks me in the ass and says, ‘Hey! I’m Joy!’” Read more
Once, while we were having a Cuban chicken and rice meal, I asked, “Why did you leave Cuba? The raucous table ground to a silent halt, and the mother said, “We left because of Castro and candy.” My friend excused herself from the table, and one of her brothers went to check on her while the mother continued. Read more
I love being right. And I’m willing to bet you do, too. But am I always right? Just ask my wife! You will get a response with eyebrows raised, a tight smile, and a reply, “He likes to think he is.” As much as we all want to be right in our opinions, perspectives, and moral perspectives, we sometimes need to take a giant step back and look at what we’re doing through the eyes of the person across from us and ask, “What’s their intent?” Read more
Many years ago, I worked in childcare at the local YMCA. I was going to school to get my teaching degree, and I thought it would be great to work with the kids I’d be teaching someday. As the Summer Camp Director and then as the School Year Childcare Director, it was my job to open the building at 5:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, go to school for my own course work, then return at 4:00 p.m. and lock up after the last child had been picked up. It was a great job. I’d plan field trips each week of the summer based on the week's theme. We’d have Pirate Week, where we’d watch a pirate movie, eat pirate food, and go to a local amusement park dressed as pirates. Or we’d have French Week, where we eat baguette and cheese for lunch, drink grape juice instead of wine, and go to a bakery for a tour (and samples) of French pastries. Read more
Anniversaries are all around us every day. We celebrate weddings, births, and life’s milestones with friends and loved ones. We memorialize dates and times of tragedy, loss, and death with gatherings of like-minded people to grieve and remember. So why do we do it? Why do we remember things from the past with reverence and sometimes horror? Read more
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