Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Last summer while on our evening walk Marsha and I were confronted by a frightened middle-aged man who warned us of a roving band of homeless people headed toward the park near our home, and aiming to set up camp there. The man was insistent and seemed to need for us to acknowledge the impending danger. In the mode of Paul Revere, it’s as though he … Continue reading When Make Believe Is Dangerous
We live in a time reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s stories of the distorted world visited by Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. In that world Alice was captive to a screwball place of lies, distortions, and made-up reality. When I was about the age of Alice, Walt Disney produced a TV special about these tales and I remember, at the time, how … Continue reading Coming of Age in a Time of Disillusionment
For the longest time my grandson Sam liked to watch YouTube videos on garbage collection. That’s right, videos of various kinds of garbage trucks collecting various kinds of garbage. It’s actually quite surprising how many different kinds of vehicles have been invented to pick up garbage. Anyway, I spent a fair amount of grandpa time contemplating garbage collection and have a couple of my own … Continue reading Be Your Own Garbage Collector
Some time ago Marsha and I watched Henry Fonda in the movie “Young Mr. Lincoln.” Afterward, I wondered whether we would ever see anyone again with the character of Old Abe. Then I wondered, would I even recognize such a person if he or she crossed my path? Would I have the eyes to see a young Lincoln? What struck me about Lincoln’s story was … Continue reading Finding My Humanity
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” ― James Baldwin I, like many of you, have had my world stopped, once again, on the issue of racism. After the horrific murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis I called Jai, my surrogate nephew, to check in on him. Jai, who is both a St. Paul police … Continue reading Changing Our Hearts … And Laws