This is the eulogy I delivered at the funeral of my mother-in-law, Patsy Wilcoxen. When I have attended funerals of teenagers and young adults, there is always a sense of tragedy that life was cut short, so much life was left unlived. It’s unusual to have those same feelings about someone who has lived almost […]
Patsy’s Graveside Service
Reflections of Patsy Jim Powell We are here, together, taking the next step on our journey, learning to live with our grief. This is a significant step, for we are literally and symbolically putting Patsy to rest, marking a place where we are able to return and remember. It’s significant that within a few feet […]
The world gets smaller
Being with Patsy on a daily basis during her declining health, I was struck in a new way by an old thought. We spend much of our adult lives working to expand our world. The expansion begins slowly at birth, but once we achieve a certain level of adolescent independence, the expansion gets real traction. […]
Being Ready
In his novel, “The Art of Fielding,” Chad Harbaugh writes about the work of the shortstop. “Rule 3: There are three stages: Thoughtless being. Thought. Return to thoughtless being.” “Rule 33: Do not confuse the first and third stages. Thoughtless being is attained by everyone, the return to thoughtless being by a very few.” This […]
Fielding a Ground Ball
“Get in front of the ball! IN FRONT of the ball!” Dreaded words from my little league coach, words sometimes yelled across the infield for encouragement, other times yelled as he towered over me, red-faced, hands on hips. I loved playing baseball. I loved being on the team, practicing, throwing and catching, I loved the […]
Lady Luck and the Salvation Army Band: Some thoughts on freedom
A few years ago I witnessed a parable in a parade as two floats rolled by me in the midst of the local Fourth of July parade. “Lady Luck,” shapely and seductive, painted on the side of a huge Bud Lite truck slowly rolled past. The truck pulled a trailer promoting a local radio station. […]
George Washington was a traitor
“George Washington was a traitor.” The whole class was stunned. How could a teacher of American history say such a thing? After a long pause, he followed with, “He was considered a traitor by the British.” That moment did not occur during an era of political correctness, nor did it happen in some liberal northern […]
Balancing freedom and responsibility
Big sodas live on in New York City. Mayor Blumberg’s attempt to ban large sugary drinks in the city was overturned by a state court. For now. The Mayor promises to appeal. The interesting thing about all this has been the range of reactions. Some shrug and say, “Makes sense.” Others are infuriated. Big sugary […]
Ode to my truck
A basic tenet of Buddhism is nonattachment. In fact, if you cut through lots of the church doctrine that’s been added over the centuries to Christianity, if you get back to the basic teachings of Jesus, he too taught nonattachment. Jesus and Buddha knew that life’s meaning and true joy were not to be found […]
What the road passes by
I received word yesterday that my friend, Carolyn, died. Her life partner, Monty, sent a message to all those on her email list. She died peacefully at home after a battle with an aggressive cancer. I didn’t know she was sick. I hadn’t had much contact with her over the past several years, though I […]