reflections from the belly of the whale

This could be titled Phlegm 3, but I got tired of the nasty connotations of that word. As I have sat at home today, thinking, praying, pondering, and being generally disgusted at how little I can do, I had these thoughts, mostly as a result of my time in the hospital. If I am physically...

Still Phlegm

In my last entry, I referred to my present health and career crisis as a storm. I considered and then wrote about how it built up and finally blew up. In explaining this to my present clients, I even drew a picture of a mushroom cloud as an illustration of my job situation. 44 The Lord hurled a...

phlegm

I am a pretty phlegmy, or phlegmatic, guy. I have been for some time. Funny how the two definitions of this word have collided in my microcosm here lately. I guess it was when I was in Washington DC recently that I first noticed that I was breathing harder - struggling for air more -...

release

It has been so long since I've visited a troutstream, I've almost forgotten the wonder of it. So in order to remind myself, I went back to an old post:, exercitatione: As the sun rises the mist morphs from pink to a dull white turning brighter as it moves downstream to the sun. All the...

neglect

This is neglect. We are failing our children. Another school shooting. We take it so casually now. 22 in the U.S. just this year, as of July 26. But the picture above, though it IS from a school shooting, it comes from Brazil. It's really not just a U.S. problem, see? But neglect seems to...

piety

Reverent devotion to God. I can respect that. I met lots of pious people in my recent trip and conference. Please don't confuse piety with being sanctimonious or pretentious. Piety connotes humility while these other more common traits suggest self-absorption rather than God-absorption. In my last installment of this series, I told a story of...

vanity

We tend to project our own insights and motivations into the behavior of others. For example, a politician I know often accuses others of doing things simply for political gain, as opposed to honestly "for the good of others." There is, often, no basis for such opinion, and when the accusation is spoken it usually...

liberty

I learned some significant lessons recently at an International Religious Freedom Conference in Washington D.C. I was granted the undeserved honor of sitting beside some esteemed friends on a panel about Nigerian Genocide, and I guarantee that I learned more from them than they did from me. There is quite a difference between fighting for...

atrocity

genocide. torture. denial of basic human rights based on gender, religion, nationality, perspective, et cetera. Atrocities such as these are honestly not at the front of the mind of most Americans living comfortably in their 3 bedroom homes with their 2.5 children. and I'm not sure whether they should be or not, frankly. Because these...

Scribendo Cogito

I don't always learn by teaching. Sometimes, I learn by conjuring up some humility, reminding myself that I'm not an expert in - well - anything, and finding someone who IS, and then submitting to their instruction. On this point, for the past several years I have been studying mediation and more specifically, conciliation, methods....