{Note: I wrote the following post four years ago at the height of Ferguson-related protests and riots. Feels timely to me. But you be the judge.} It was dark, but I could still discern in the headlights’ glare that a shotgun was pointed directly at my chest. “Son, that’s a good way to get your […]
This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. Ralph Waldo Emerson Everything is terrible. It’s all just the worst . . . the absolute worst. This is what most people in the Western world walk around thinking most of the time. It’s not true, […]
Paul Harvey passed away ten years ago today. In tribute, here are a few words we wrote at the end of the Introduction to “Paul Harvey’s America.” They still ring true for me: “There are some who suspect that something in America died with Paul Harvey—or is dying as time relentlessly claims the remnants of […]
It’s Thanksgiving night and the house that was full a few hours ago is quiet again. Now it’s me that’s full. I’m full in stomach and heart. Mrs. H outdid herself. And our family was together. “Family.” God created family as the most powerful and effective institution on earth for creating and maintaining well-being. […]
Several years ago our youngest daughter, half a world away at college, was feeling overwhelmed because she was over-committing. She was suffering badly from “nice person’s disease,” a genetic malady she inherited from both parents. She felt compelled to say “yes” to every request and opportunity that came her way. I just came across a […]
Mrs. H and I are suffering from Full Heart Syndrome here on this morning after Christmas Day. The last few days have been rich and sweet. In fact, the whole year gifted us with things for which we are profoundly grateful. 2017 was a year of four milestones. April brought our first grandchildren into our […]
As longtime readers of this humble internet outpost may recall, several years ago I lost more than five years of blogging output that I had poured out on the old “Blather. Wince. Repeat.” site after a server hacking incident. The database holding everything I’d written between March of 2007 and July of 2012 became corrupted and seemingly irrepairable. […]
Our oldest had a birthday a few days ago but we’re finally getting a chance to celebrate it tonight. This was her 28 years ago this week, just a few hours old: Roughly six months ago we learned that she and our wonderful son-in-law were expecting their first baby—more importantly our first grandchild! A few […]
Ah, yes. Now I remember. That’s what a night sky is supposed to look like. So many stars . . . scores of familiar constellations . . . sparkling against a black velvet backdrop. There you are Milky Way, hung across the sky like a sash. There you are, Seven Sisters. It’s been a long […]
As I sit down to tap out a few lines here in the opening hours of 2017, I’m mindful of some sage, three-fold advice from Benjamin Franklin. “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” On those first two items . . […]
