The world lost a legend this week. And I lost a personal hero. Stan Musial, baseball Hall of Famer and unquestionably one of the greatest players of all time died quietly at the age of 92. He was also unquestionably one of the best people who ever played the game. He was a pillar of […]
A loss like no other
As I sat in the memorial service for my friend, Hal, my attention kept drifting to Hal’s only brother, Dale. Dale was sitting a few rows in front of me and to my left, on the aisle of the second row of the section reserved for the family. Thinning hair, in his late seventies, and […]
My laptop was stolen!
My laptop was stolen while I was on the train from visiting my kids in Illinois. I was devastated when I first discovered it missing from my book bag at 6:00 a.m. Then it got worse. As I considered the implications, well, I have not slept well and have not been able to concentrate on […]
And which God are we talking about?
God got a lot of free press during the recent political conventions. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but it certainly reveals something interesting about our individual and collective notions of God. The Republican platform, adopted at the RNC, contained 16 references to the deity. The DNC left the name of God out of […]
We didn’t see this coming!?
Last week a U.S. Navy ship collided with a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf. This could have been a tragedy or become an international incident. It did not. My first reaction was a concerned “Oh, wow,” but within seconds, I was chuckling, “How does the person in charge explain that?” Granted, it happened […]
Father as Bricklayer
I decided long ago, when my daughter was in high school and my son was in middle school, that there is no “right way” to parent. I am writing this on the heels of Father’s Day. I got phone calls from each of my two “kids” who are a thousand miles away and dealing with […]
Same-sex marriage: The lag time between knowing what’s right and doing it
When my son was a teenager, he stayed out one night about 3 hours past his curfew. This was unusual, because even though he was pretty headstrong in most things, he was also dutiful and rarely violated his curfew. For some intuitive reason, though, I did not worry about him that night. But I did […]
Stuck in the intersection
“Dad!” I could tell something was wrong. “What’s up, Son?” “I’m stuck in the intersection of Green and Lincoln and I can’t get my car to move!” Green and Lincoln is a busy intersections in the town where he lives. If he was stuck there, he was in a heap of trouble. “I’ve been stuck […]
Encore to a resurrection
As the story goes, the man selected to play the part of Jesus in the small town’s Easter pageant created a stir. The oil field worker had a reputation for a quick temper and a foul mouth. But he was grateful for the part and practiced diligently. Among those selected to be among the angry […]
Harder and harder, better and better
My son is going to learn to drive a car with a manual transmission. He’s been driving for 6 years but has never driven a stick. Now he’ll have to if he wants to inherit his sister’s car. I learned to drive a stick shift with my best friend, Randy, on a Sunday afternoon in […]