It was 4:45 a.m., and the door from my bedroom to the back yard was open just far enough to let Blanca and Ivan go in and out. As I lay in bed listening to crickets and the odd cicada humming, I was warm, comfortable, and safe, enjoying the peace of not-quite morning. After these last few …
Category: Social Issues
From Hot Dogs to Hope
The following is an editorial/article I wrote from my church newsletter. Resurrections: Moving Beyond Hot Dogs, Providing Hope for Homeless Couple Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Nichols, Director of Resurrections Ministries, and a team of seven more Resurrections faithful, for lunch. I was curious about a new venture they’re launching and Larry …
My First Political Rally
It was a bit of an anti-climax, actually. It's not like I didn't have time, transportation, and belief in the cause, so I couldn't think of one good reason not to attend the Planned Parenthood rally on the steps of the capitol of South Carolina. The purpose of the rally was in protest of House Bill …
Semantics: Because Words Matter
My friend Cynde had a genius Facebook status the other day, one which sparked good conversation and got me thinking - she really helped crystallize something in my head which has been swirling around for a long time, specifically, what we call something, the words we use, make a difference in how we feel about …
A Need for Gethsemane
It has been hard to focus on Lent during this abrasive and invasive electoral Lenten season. Another act of terror, eliciting unhelpful responses from the GOP candidates: Ted Cruz calls for pogroms against American Muslims, a modern version of what my Russian-Jewish grandfather fled at the beginning of the last century. Donald Drumpf rants that discrimination against …
America: Better Than Donald Trump
Something has been circling around my brain for months now, accelerated by the shambolic presidential campaign in which it seems each candidate is vying for the position of Most Unbearable. One insists victims of rape carry their unwanted pregnancies to term, another suggests carpet-bombing the Mideast is a viable foreign policy, one is a pleasant old …
Mark 2:5 & Everything We Think We Know about Addiction might be Wrong
Now those are friends. Those are the friends you call at midnight when you've just been dumped, or need bail money. Those friends are there for you, even if they have to vandalize a house to be so.
A Lesson in Graciousness
It's Monday. Yesterday, despite having recently been dragged to see both Room and Carol, Paul took me to the glory that is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The Carolina Panthers did not win the Superbowl, and I'm nursing a case of chips and Rotel cheese dip, shrimp and cocktail sauce (extra hot), buffalo chicken tenders …
Anglicans and The Three-Legged Stool
I am no biblical scholar; however, I admit to being an expert on falling down, both metaphorically and actually. The concept of the "three-legged stool" always made sense to me because I understand what happens when one rests too much weight on one leg of a chair - boom, crash, another two weeks of watching my …
Star Fruit and Shopping Carts
We had a nice Christmas, able to fly Charlotte out from Chicago, give each other a couple of nice gifts, send some cash out to the kids and grand-kids in Texas. But like about everyone I know, come January we're feeling the pinch. So I was comparison shopping with greater care and squelching the impulsive …
Southern Fried Californian 