Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Friend Paul Schrijnen sent me an extraordinary poem written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer while he was in Flossenburg Prison. Bonhoeffer wrote the poem shortly after he was sentenced to be hanged for his role in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolph Hitler. The poem is entitled Who Am I? Who am I? They often tell meI stepped from my cell’s confinementCalmly, cheerfully, firmly,Like a Squire from his … Continue reading At The End, Who Are We?
A happenstance is defined simply as a chance encounter. Some happenstances we remember for a lifetime, others we forget quickly, and then there are those few that miraculously change our lives forever. Here’s the story of a miraculous happenstance that ricocheted through history, saving the lives of millions — even my own. It began with a man named Rowland Hazzard. Rowland was born In 1881 … Continue reading The “Happenstance” of Sobriety
Friday evening was the beginning of Passover, when the “mighty hand of Adonai” freed the Israelites from Egypt and sent them to wandering — in the desert. It is a story well worth remembering. It begins when the Israelites were held in bondage in Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is mitzrayim, which literally means a “narrow place.” The Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, starts fretting … Continue reading Passover
“Who is good if he knows not who he is. And who knows what he is, if he forgets that things which have been made are perishable, and that it is not possible for one human being to be with another always?” ~ Epictetus I, at one point in my life, lived as if I were imperishable. It was only when I was beaten up, thrown … Continue reading On Love and Loss
“The wind blew — not up the road or down it, though that’s bad enough, but sheer across it, sending the rain slanting down like the lines they used to rule in the copybooks at school…“ ~ Charles Dickens Never in my lifetime have I felt the winds of history blowing as hard as they are now. I’ve never felt more powerless to effect change. … Continue reading How to Sleep When the Wind Blows