Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
On Mondays I attend a weekly AA meeting at the Snohomish County Jail. Some of the inmates who attend these meetings are looking at long prison sentences. Recently a young 23-year-old shared that he’d reached a 20-year plea deal on a murder conviction that would soon send him to prison. He wanted the others in the group to know that because of the program he … Continue reading Contented Confinement
As Marsha and I were unpacking a box of keepsakes recently I came upon a poem my brother Kevin had given me in 1974: The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson. The Jesuit, JFX O’Conor, describes the poem like this: “The name is strange. It startles one at first. It is so bold, so new, so fearless. It does not attract, rather the reverse. But … Continue reading A Keepsake from Kevin
These are hard times to pay attention to politics. With all the anger, madness and discord in the air, it’s like our ship of state is sinking and we’re left to find our own lifeboats. It’s easy to think we’re the first people ever to have known times like these. Of course, we’re not. Think back to the time of the Great Depression when anger, … Continue reading Laughing Our Way Forward
As we near the 10th anniversary of the passing of my brother Steve, I’d like to share this thought. It goes without saying he’s been deeply missed. His kind doesn’t come along often and his death left a deep hole in my heart. Steve was a man of great character, unusual conviction and exceptional honesty. His word was the coin of his realm. He left … Continue reading Remembering Steve
“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. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that is broken, the crownless again shall be king.” ~ by JRR Tolkien, The Lord of … Continue reading Exceptionally Average