Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
When Marsha and I take our evening walk we pass a statue of the late Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson. He was a renowned United States Senator from the state of Washington, an Everett native, and regarded by some as one of our country’s great leaders. It was said he never forgot a name, never forgot where he came from, and was Jack Kennedy’s first choice … Continue reading The Shadow of Greatness
Marsha and I like to walk over to Grand Avenue Park in Everett after dinner to watch the sun set over the Olympic Mountains. The scene is so picturesque, so grand, so serene, so beautiful. I remember as a boy watching the sunset from Discovery Park and feeling the same serenity. I lived away from the Pacific Northwest for 37 years and hardly a day … Continue reading What’s So Special About Beauty?
Charles Dickens’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities, opens with the classic description of the age leading up to the French Revolution. It speaks of a world in chaos and turmoil where contradictory pressures moved with equal and opposite force in a world with no North Star. The novel has been read and reread since it was first published in 1845, and as these same … Continue reading The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
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
The concepts of sin and confession have gone out of fashion. The images of a judgmental and retributive God that they conjure have been replaced with an emphasis on love and understanding in many faith circles. I’m definitely not a fan of going back to a place in our culture that was condemnatory, but can we really access the full joy of grace without confession? … Continue reading Confession is Good for the Soul (by Eileen)