I turned 50 about a month ago. I have yet to reach an age for which I’m not ready, where I feel like I haven’t accomplished enough for my age, or at which I am dissatisfied with who or what I am. 50 is no exception. I have learned some things in the last year or so: Don’t bother sharing thoughts, hopes, dreams, disappointments etc. with others. They are most often met with an enduring apathy or a fast fading sympathy. Don’t expect a return on investments in other people. Do i

The idea of the existence of a god fascinates me. A being that is so big, it spoke the big bang into happening. So infinite that it holds the “infinite” universe like I might hold a towel. So full of omniscience that man’s science looks like a toddler discovering his toes. Perhaps even more astounding is the notion that such a being would converse with me: someone who might put a few sticks or bits of elements together and spend the rest of his days amazed with my “creation;”

I don’t always learn by teaching. Sometimes, I learn by conjuring up some humility, reminding myself that I’m not an expert in – well – anything, and finding someone who IS, and then submitting to their instruction. On this point, for the past several years I have been studying mediation and more specifically, conciliation, methods. This is done in a quest to be able to help people who are tangled up in the chains of conflict to escape with their valued relationships in tact.

I can’t say I’ll miss this year. Not because it has been bad – it hasn’t – but because I’m ready for a few changes. I want to be more true to myself. Is that so much to ask? No more trying to be a redneck. No more trying to be part of either political party. No more trying to be more or less than what I am. More of what I care about. In my career I have proven to myself over the last 25 years that my passion is helping the abused of society. Not those who simply claim “abuse”

God isn’t as nice as I think I would often like Him to be. He isn’t as nice as I think most people imagine Him to be. I suspect that many people mentally mold God into a shape that they can comfortably worship, or “celebrate,” as is so popular in the 21st century. But when we have molded whatever we are worshiping, isn’t that a false god? When we devote ourselves to a god that doesn’t match our own scriptures, aren’t we arming our atheist friends with reasonable arguments? I’

Had someone asked me before I left, I would have said this day trip would be the pinnacle of my journey to Africa. And even at the end of the evening on Wednesday, I would have said it was, but now, looking back, I know I would have been incorrect. Just as Elijah would have been incorrect had he said God was in the wind, the earthquake or the fire. (1 Kings 19:11-13) I had done my homework. Harar is considered to be the fourth holiest city of Islam, behind Mecca, Medina, and

I went to work Friday morning with Africa on my mind. Actually, I went to bed the night before the same way. Truly it has been in the forefront of my thoughts since the call. I left Conway for the airport around 4 p.m. Friday. After familial salutations and my oldest son helping me with luggage, I checked in and went smoothly thru TSA to Gate whatever. Without too much wait, the plane for Atlanta began boarding and in sense, I was on my way to the Dark Continent. It was a 1 1

So much. Misconduct. Bad behavior. Accusations. Ruined lives. Ruined careers. Battered victims. Lying “victims.” Lying perpetrators. Battered “perpetrators.” Dr. Ford says that Judge Kavanaugh – long before she was a PhD or he was a JD – got on top of her on a bed at a party in high school, put his hand over her mouth to stifle the screaming, and further assaulted her somehow. They were two wealthy, privileged, drunk spring breaker kids in an un-chaperoned party, and now thir

This is the root of politicians and pundits feeding the public “alternative facts,” “fake news,” and “revisionist history.” When people choose not to see, they have little choice but not to show, not to explain, not to admit, etc., lest they see and are therefore seen. Selective invisibility is one of the most effective tools of less than forthright clergy, politicos, and, by the way, terrorists. Who’s to say what’s real and what’s fabricated among these invisible things we t

How many people have either wondered if they were, or wished they were, or maybe wished they were not, invisible, at one point or another? That one girl or guy that doesn’t seem to know you exist; that car that pulls into your lane as though you weren’t in it; or that gathering where you’re standing alone in the middle of the room and no one seems to notice when you finally leave. Or maybe you wished you were invisible when you spilled the tomato sauce down your clean white s

I am amazed at all the invisible things around us. I am further astonished at how many invisible things we accept as real, on faith, and how many we reject as real, on faith. I have bad eyesight. I am both nearsighted and farsighted, so I wear progressive lenses in my glasses, which means when I look at things I’m always trying to make sure I look through the few millimeters of my lenses to see the object in focus. But no matter what type of lenses I wear, I cannot see light

“Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Jesus, Matthew 7:12 Most religions, cultures, or ethical algorithms have a form of what Christians call the Golden Rule. Hinduism says “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain of done to you.” Mahabarata 5:1517 Islam claims “Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.” Muhammed, Hadith Judaism teaches “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This i

So is it a good thing or a bad thing? I think it’s healthy but no more fun than a shot in the buttocks for a ten year old. Children seem to enjoy their illusions: Santa brings them presents at Christmas, a Bunny brings candy at Easter, a Fairy exchanges money for baby teeth (a little creepy when said that way), a huge ape with big feet lives in the woods, et cetera. Part of maturing is releasing these fanciful myths in favor of reality, but it seems to me that after releasing

(This is #11 and the final installment in a series. Find 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 by clicking on the numbers. It’s ok – they’re mostly short.) By the way, to be fair, it’s not just Christians who do it. I’m just more willing to point the proverbial finger at my own kind than others, for the sake of avoiding hypocrisy. But everyone from the LGBTQ community to the Islam community seems to do it. We all want respect and we all want others to see the truth of our ways. But

(This is #10 in a series. Find 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 by clicking on the numbers. It’s ok – they’re short.) Last night I laid out my view that Christ never encouraged public prayer among nonbelievers. I have also explained that U.S. Christians have been doing so ever since the Puritans anchored here. In a previous post I explained that there are usually consequences for “forcing it.” The Union Free School District No. 9 of New Hyde Park, New York was and is a public schoo

(This is #8 in a series. Find 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 by clicking on the numbers.) When I last left this keyboard, I was suggesting that a lot of Christians seem to be blaming everyone but themselves for perceived problems with religious liberty in the U.S. and that maybe that should be re-examined. I admit that this is a slightly bold assertion so I will present it carefully. Consider the teaching of evolution versus creation in public schools. The judicial case that comes to m

(This is #7 in a series. Find 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 by clicking on the numbers.) After the Declaration came the Constitution, and again, all they wrote in to it was “freedom of religion.” No specific religion, faith, creed, or doctrine. As a matter of fact, they went back and forth on how to word the idea that became “freedom of religion.” Look closely. At one point it was “Congress shall make no law establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, nor shall the

(This is #6 in a series. Find 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 by clicking on the numbers.) Forced respect isn’t respect at all.            Forced respect leads to resentment. Forced love isn’t love in the least.            Forced love leads to a bitter loathing. Forced allegiance is far from loyalty.      Forced allegiance causes rebellion. Forced religion is bad faith.                      Forced religion stifles honest faith. When I refer to “forced” religion or faith, I’m not referring to

There are so many types of “forcing it.” I have addressed several already, in the precursors to this post: 1, 2, 3, and 4. I have suggested that as a general rule, subject to some exceptions of course, we should focus our attention on ourselves when forcing things (i.e. self-discipline) and we should not impose our wills and standards on others – “forcing it” on those unwilling. I attempted to show that God Himself set the example on this point, subject to some exceptions, an

Christ was the master of humility, especially if you believe He was God. I guess, actually, if you don’t believe He was God, He wouldn’t seem very humble at all, given His claims of being God. But then if you can put aside those claims, He would appear humble either way given His treatment of others. Some might say this was just His nature as God; I say it was His discipline as He had adopted humanity for Himself. I say God even initially taking the weight of humanity upon Hi