Growing in Wonder

When you stop seeing beauty, you start growing old.–Bono, Summer Rain.
I have thought and written at length about the blessings we receive as we grow older, if we are willing to embrace them– the increased wisdom gained through a life of humble self-correction, the growing appreciation for the things that matter most, the pool of [...]

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Active Surrender

If you can’t control your peanut butter, how can you expect to control your own life?  — Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes.
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving. –Dale Carnegie, American lecturer, author 1888-1955
Within me is a potent instinct for control. Control of [...]

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Traveling Lessons

Have you ever had the opportunity to take a vacation, and tried vacationing at home instead of getting away?  In the past, as a homebody, I have been tempted to stay put when vacationing.  I love home– not just the house, but the feeling of comfort, rest, and security in my family’s home.  But, over [...]

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Stoutness of Heart

Affliction is the good man’s shining time.
–Abigail Adams, quoted in 1776 by David McCullough
The heart is a bloom. It shoots up through the stony ground.
–Bono, U2
I recall having a deep discussion with two of my children a few years ago about a concept we do not hear much of today– being “stout-hearted.” If you read [...]

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Life in Technicolor

“If something is easy, you will not enjoy it, really.” Krzysztof Wielicki, Polish Mountain Climber.
“Behind every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain.” Bob Dylan.
“A heart that hurts is a heart that beats.” Bono
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from [...]

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Love As THE Motivator

“Our ‘behavior’ will not be changed long with self-discipline, but fall in love and a human will accomplish what he never thought possible. The laziest of men will swim the English Channel to win his woman. …by accepting God’s love for us, we fall in love with Him, and only then do we [...]

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Saying No To War Talk

“The lust of blood grows with its satisfaction, there is no satiety: the crowd had seen a hundred noble heads fall beneath the guillotine to-day, it wanted to make sure that it would see another hundred fall on the morrow.” –Baroness Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel
The quote above from The Scarlet Pimpernel captures in vivid [...]

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Allowing Words to Stir Us

In many ways, the most powerful place in any community is not the police station, the electric company, or the military base, but the public library!
The power of words is undeniable. Words can inspire us, challenge us, discourage us, or scar us. If you and I were asked to recall a spoken word that cut [...]

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Living The Restful Life

o Karoshi—the Japanese term for “death from overwork”
o The most common causes of Karoshi are heart attack and stroke
o The first case of Karoshi was reported in 1969
o The Japanese Ministry of Labor began keeping yearly statistics on Karoshi in 1987
o Some ten thousand deaths per year are now attributed to Karoshi
– Jim Loehr and [...]

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Life Is An Action Verb

Have you ever met someone in the “winter” of life who engages with others and exudes a sense of purpose and mission? They are always learning, always growing, always striving to get better. Such people are refreshing to me. Though they may have retired from their careers, they are golden examples of what I call [...]

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