Personal Growth
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A Pot of Boiling Frogs
The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities. Benjamin E. Mays Most of us are familiar with the story of Continue reading
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Unraveling the Knots
People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring. Roger Hornsby A couple weeks ago, I wrote of learning how to ice skate after decades of unrequited love. It was a feel good story about overcoming hesitations Continue reading
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On Beloved Community
Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the ‘fight with fire’ method is bitterness and chaos, the aftermath of the love method is reconciliation and creation of the beloved community. Yes , love — which means understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill, even for one’s enemies-is Continue reading
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Step and Glide
It’s coming on ChristmasThey’re cutting down treesThey’re putting up reindeerAnd singing songs of joy and peaceOh, I wish I had a riverI could skate away on Joni Mitchell I grew up in the Arizona desert where seeing snow required a long car ride. I have very strong memories of driving from my home in the Continue reading
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Who’s on First?
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. Karl Marx Shortly after Mom’s 90th birthday she said to me, “How did I get so old?” My answer was quick and to the point. “You didn’t die.” While I am far short of Mom’s eventual 98 years, I can’t help but ask myself the same Continue reading
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On the Nature of a Higher Power
There is an eternal landscape, a geography of the soul; we search for its outlines all our lives. Josephine Hart This missive is part of my Coming of Age series of articles. If you haven’t been following along and would like to know what this is all about, you can find the previous articles here: Continue reading
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Ten Thousand and One Reasons
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always. Mahatma Gandhi Preamble There is no denying it. We live in difficult times. Continue reading
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First Frost
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. J. R. R. Tolkien We had our first frost of the season on Saturday. Having lived in Minnesota since the 1980s, I know that no Continue reading
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On Being Alive
Someone to hold me too closeSomeone to hurt me too deepSomeone to sit in my chairAnd ruin my sleepAnd make me awareOf being alive Stephen Sondheim In last week’s article, On Being Human, I wrote of how at the ripe age of 67 I began my Coming of Age process. I answered the human part Continue reading
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On Being Human
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin I began an on-again, off-again relationship with Unitarianism sometime in the late 1990s. Admittedly, I was introduced to the religion by my wife who grew up Unitarian. I was raised a Catholic, but somewhere Continue reading
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The Sessions
Those who have never known the deep intimacy and the intense companionship of mutual love have missed the best thing that life has to give. Bertrand Russell This article deals with things of a sexual nature and I use words that may be upsetting to some of my readers. Feel free to stop now if Continue reading
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One Step, Two Step, Change Step
People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. Thich Nhat Hanh Preamble: Although much of this article is based on Twelve-Step concepts, everything is applicable to non-recovery. Change is a universal human need no matter where you are coming from Continue reading
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Lost in These Autumn Breezes
Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night. Hal Borland Minnesotans like to joke that if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. While that isn’t exactly true, I have seen it go from summer to fall practically overnight. Continue reading
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Living the Dream
A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. Yoko Ono Excluding some slight poetic license, the following is a true story. My head must have been a thousand miles away when I was startled out of my thoughts with a loud, “We’re livin’ the dream, Andrew. Livin’ Continue reading
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Accept Forgive Heal
Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity. Hippocrates Every Wednesday, I gather with a group of similarly aged men to catch up on our lives and talk about whatever it is that crosses our minds. While we sometimes drift into politics and how messed up the world Continue reading
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Get Off My Lawn
I’ll know my song well before I start singing. Bob Dylan I like to say that I catch nostalgia like a cold. It grabs hold of me and clouds my senses with illusions and fantasies. Play Me and You and a Dog Named Boo and I’m 13-years-old driving in the car with Dad up to Continue reading
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Sorry Not Sorry
Let us endeavor so to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. Mark Twain When my youngest son, James, was around 11 or 12, he and I joined with a few other fathers and their sons to create what we called The Sun Club. Every week we met Continue reading
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Act As If
The key to success is action, and the essential in action is perseverance. Sun Yat-sen Despite having what some would consider a long and successful career, I never felt that I was particularly special at anything. I was a decent programmer, but I knew a lot of people who were much better than me. I Continue reading
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All the World is Birthday Cake
You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake. Bob Hope Last week I had another one of those birthday things. It wasn’t one that ends in zero, so it didn’t have the gravitas of a big transition. Still, I am of the belief that even these lesser-milestone birthdays are special Continue reading
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The North Shore Simple Life
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,And when we find ourselves in the place just right,‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight Joseph Brackett I am a Cancer and us Cancers find great comfort in the familiar. I Continue reading
Can You Hear Me Now 