To be a Christian, a follower of the teachings of Jesus, is difficult. While living out the attitudes and values of Jesus has never been easy, in our era, there are significant challenges. The most obvious challenge is that the Christian Church today is characterized by egregious actions and statements… Read More »The Difficult Challenge of Being a Christian
Of the areas for personal growth that have been a challenge for me throughout my life, anger has been the most insidious. There are times when my anger flares and seems to take over who I am. I’ve also experienced attempting to not respond to the anger when I don’t… Read More »Anger: An Unexpected Blaze
It’s another birthday for me. While I am another year older, I’m not sure that I’m any wiser. Growing older is truly an enigma for me. When I think about being in my sixties, I’m mostly confused about my life and what it means to be approaching retirement age. Yes,… Read More »Another Birthday for Me
It’s a trip I began planning a few months ago. Taking advantage of the break between my academic quarters, I’m spending ten days in South Dakota. It’s been nearly twenty years since I’ve visited the grassy prairie, the rugged Badlands, and the grand monument to Crazy Horse, the Lakota warrior.… Read More »An Unexpected Loss
The stairs stretched up in front of me: 154 of them. The climb is ten stories high. Some collegiate athletes run up the steps as part of their training. Mine was a measured pace, not just because of age and limited lung capacity, but also as I slowly walked the… Read More »What Life Might Have Been
Here’s something you probably don’t know. Almost all living organisms have the ability to hear. Yes, all animals have the sense of hearing. So do plants. There are creatures are called “extremophiles.” They live in extreme conditions like at the bottom of the ocean in total darkness, in the artic… Read More »To Listen is To Survive
I consider myself to be fortunate. While I’ve moved around the country over the years, I’ve been able to maintain a network of close friends whom I value. I’ve known some of my friends for 35 or 40 years. I am thankful for those intimate friends. They enrich my life… Read More »When Letting Go Means Saying Good-bye
The conversation caught me off guard. I was stopped by a couple of my students during a recent residency course. (I teach adults – usually ages 35 to 55 – in a doctoral program in psychology.) “We had a meeting about you,” was the opening line. Trying to be of… Read More »Am I Woke? Am I an Ally?
