I have taught on the subject of advocacy for many years. It is a topic of great personal interest to me. Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought I’d be advocating for my young adult son Christopher, who endured a traumatic brain injury very early this year. My wife Mariko and I are very grateful when care givers encourage us about the nature and level of our advocacy for Christopher. We want to honor him with our lives... Read more

Last night was hard. I could barely open Christopher’s hand to insert a washcloth in it for him to squeeze so he does not pierce his palm with his fingernails. It’s the same hand that he often closes like a clenched fist. What made it harder was that I was so tired from a very long day. Several evenings ago, I was able to get Christopher to follow my iPhone from one side of his bed to the other with... Read more

If you could go backstage with a singer or performer, who would it be? You may have seen the viral outpouring of reactions to Rolling Stones’ lead singer Mick Jagger having a beer at the Thirsty Beaver Saloon in Charlotte, North Carolina. No one recognized him until later when he posted a picture of his outing on Twitter (Check out this news station account of the story). People just to his left were talking about how they had tickets to... Read more

I have returned to Lamentations 3 repeatedly the past several days in view of my family’s ordeal surrounding my adult son Christopher’s traumatic brain injury. Often attributed to Jeremiah, known as “the weeping prophet,” Lamentations recounts Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.E. and the trauma and humiliation of her people. According to one source, “…scholars for a time found the primary theological purpose of the book in the Deuteronomic righteousness-reward theology with its hope in the possibility of... Read more

Those of us who were old enough to remember 9/11 will never forget. I still vividly recall the news coverage as station after station continued playing the footage of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. Something in the psyche of many Americans crashed, exploded, and went up in flames. A feeling of insecurity arose: we were not indestructible. Our symbols of economic prowess, military power, and democratic rule were truly vulnerable to attack, as the planes... Read more

My wife Mariko shared an article she read about how family members retelling familiar stories can make a difference for someone who has endured a traumatic brain injury: Coma patients who heard familiar stories repeated by family members four times a day for six weeks, via recordings played over headphones, recovered consciousness significantly faster and had an improved recovery compared to patients who did not hear the stories, reports the study. (Here’s the link to the article) Mariko asked if... Read more

Labor Day pays tribute to American workers for their industry, accomplishments, and contributions to society. The holiday was signed into law in 1894. It was an attempt by the US President and Congress to repair relations with American workers following great upheaval, unrest, and a severe deterioration of trust (Refer here). How often do we take for granted the meaning of the holidays we celebrate and the history behind them, including Labor Day? Similarly, how often do we take for... Read more

The sands of time and fortune keep shifting below our feet. Hurricane Ida is picking up steam and is expected to rage against the Gulf Coast. COVID is wreaking havoc on countless people. Yesterday, the family of a friend of mine prepared to say goodbye to their critically ill parents who contracted COVID several days ago. The US is pulling out of Afghanistan August 30th. That’s nearly twenty years after moving in to remove the Taliban, to take out al-Qaeda... Read more