Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
When Charles Hahn, my father-in-law, passed away earlier this year, I was asked to deliver his eulogy. I never could have imagined how challenging it would be. I so wanted to ask him what he thought of his legacy, what was the message of his life. I could only guess because we’d never talked of such things. All I could offer were my own reflections … Continue reading Gavin, Grandpa and Oscar Hammerstein
The recent public conversation on immigrants and immigration has had a tearing effect on the American psyche. It seems for many Americans the memory of how we came to be American people has been forgotten. For most of us, America is not our native land. We, too, are foreigners, descended of refugees from an earlier time. Many of our ancestors were greeted in an equally … Continue reading A Mutt Named America
Nothing characterized my early journey in faith more than doubt. From the first moment I picked up a Baltimore Catechism, skepticism set in. I was taught that every person enters the world with the table already set, answers to every question, truth to negate every falsehood, and clear, dark lines defining the good and the bad. The rule book for life was a time-tested document … Continue reading Saved by Doubt
We hear the word smart being used a lot these days. Companies want to locate near smart people. Employers like hiring smart people. Advertisers like selling to smart people. We are awash in all things smart. We have smart phones, smart watches, smart cars and smart homes. We even have smart apps to navigate for us, spell for us, budget our money, brew our morning coffee. Why … Continue reading Smart or Wise?
Originally published February 16, 2016. “This is what I believe: That I am I. That my soul is a dark forest. That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in that forest. That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest in the clearing of my known self, and then go back. That I must have the courage to let them … Continue reading When I Learned to Listen