Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
I’m stunned at the storming of the U.S. Capitol. it was an event so outrageous, so evil, so destructive, that it defies description. What has made it even more maddening for me is trying to say what it was really about, I mean really about. To answer that question I’ve had to explore my own history. I was 12 years old when John Kennedy was … Continue reading An Inaugural Address for the Ages
May I strike my heart’s keys clearly, and may none fail because of slack, uncertain, or fraying strings. May the tears that stream down my face make me more radiant: may my hidden weeping bloom. How we waste our afflictions!… They’re really our wintering foliage, our dark greens of meaning, one of the seasons of the clandestine year; not only a season: they’re site, settlement, shelter, soil, abode. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke Poetry … Continue reading Finding A Safe Place
I find my thoughts, recently, turning to Abraham Lincoln as he guided a broken country through the Civil War. There are so many Lincoln stories, some humorous, some poignant. The ones I’ve been reading illustrate Lincoln’s great capacity for compassion, forgiveness and empathy. Many people sought the President’s help. Few were as fortunate as Thomas Bullock, who recalled how he obtained a pardon for his … Continue reading A Time for Empathy
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ∼ Lao Tzu Contentment? What is contentment? As a younger man I would have choked on the admonition to rejoice in the way things are. It took a long time for a butterfly to find my shoulder. No illustration better describes … Continue reading Finding Contentment
“There is no one I consider more emblematic of the good heart of our school careers than Tucker. His joy and laughter has always been the ebullient soundtrack of what was great about Prep. “ Words of Kevin Miller, educator, poet and classmate of one Tucker McHugh, the subject this morning’s post. 2020 has been a hard year. I am learning that no matter how … Continue reading A Friend Named Tucker