Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Two and half years ago I wrote this post on Verdell Trice, fondly known as the Mayor of the West Side of Chicago. I worked with Verdell and others in a community renewal endeavor known as the 5th City Project. On account of recent developments in 5th City I’m adding a coda to the original post. Life is unpredictable, and sometimes things bear fruit long … Continue reading Why Bother? (Coda)
“I woke in the middle of the night thinking I heard someone cry, thinking I myself was weeping, and I felt my face and it was dry. Then I looked at the window and thought: Why, yes, it’s just the rain, the rain, always the rain, and turned over, sadder still, and fumbled about for my dripping sleep and tried to slip it back on.” … Continue reading An Ode To Joy
There is a Chinese saying that goes: “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody .” Humans are inherently social species. We have survived and thrived because we take care of one another and generosity is, … Continue reading The Art of Being Happy
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