POINT OF PRIDE
Several years ago, I wrote an affirmation to share on a Sunday morning. It’s still one of my favorites: Yes, as a matter of fact, I am God’s gift to the world.And so are we all. I don’t remember what,…
WAIT A MINUTE
When I open up my phone, sometimes I’ll find myself on a screen of “widgets” — little quick-look interactive previews of news headlines, my step-count, to-do lists, whatever’s up-next on my podcasts… stuff like that. I don’t think I ever…
HOWLING WOLVES AND HUSH PUPPIES
I don’t remember when I started adding a wolf howl to the end of my prayers. And to the end of some songs at Sunday services. And whenever I want to punctuate something. It’s not every time, but it’s become…
CARTS BEFORE THE SOURCE
I read a piece by Seth Godin in which he asserted, “The biggest thing you bring to any project is FORWARD.” It’s kind of a weird way of phrasing it, but I totally get what he meant. “Forward” is first…
DON’T I KNOW US FROM SOMEWHERE?
Several years ago, I had a delightful exchange with a woman in a dance class at Maple Street. She looked so familiar to me — this striking redhead with a great smile who really knew how to shake her groove…
MERCY ME
The dynamic tension between independence and mutual responsibility has been part of the human psyche for… I don’t know, maybe forever. It was fundamental to our evolutionary development as a species — homo sapiens wouldn’t have made it very far…
BARREL OF MONKEYS
When I was about fifteen years old, I decided that religion was a soul-sucking dead-end. This decision was a big shift and it came out of nowhere, as far as I recall. I’d been a happy churchgoer my entire life,…
JUMP THE SHARK
I don’t know if you’re familiar with the idea of “jumping the shark.” It refers to the 5th season of the TV show Happy Days. In a 1977 episode, the ever-cool character of the Fonz, answering a challenge to his…
HEAVEN ALL THE WAY
A few weeks ago, I was grumbling about something. I don’t remember what it was. Something was coming up and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I declared, “I’m going to hate it, I’m going to be miserable.” I caught…
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I read a sweet article recently, by Rhaina Cohen for The Atlantic: “What Adults Forget About Friendship.” It left me nostalgic for the broad vistas I remember from my childhood. When the future appeared wide open, and the present was…