Election season has begun. Though, 2013 is not a national, state or even a mid-term election year. The lawn signs are fewer and the “intensity” of the public discourse is lower (unless you count debt-ceilings and affordable healthcare…but that’s a whole other topic). But election season – beginning with the primaries in early September and …
Faith
Volunteering is a lucrative business
Why do something for nothing? Why complete actual work without any actual monetary gain? Why do anything for anyone? One quarter or more of all Americans volunteer[i]. Numbers wonks can follow the link at the bottom of this post to read the official February 2013 report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yes, volunteerism …
Decisions, Decisions
Instead of writing, today I spent the afternoon with a friend. She is at a crossroads and ready to make the decision to change her life. Over iced tea and California rolls, we discussed what it feels like when your job has become a toxic pool; where you can barely envision that a way out …
The Future is Today
I love time travel stories. Back to the Future, Quantum Leap, HG Wells’ The Time Machine, Time After Time, Somewhere in Time, Slaughterhouse-Five, even the Terminator movies franchise. Whether by self-hypnosis, worm-hole, steampunk contraption, or DeLorean, the idea of moving forward or backward on a timeline is tantalizing. Why? It is the simple idea of …
Ode to Noel
Dawn & dusk dog walks — Layers increased over the weeks As thin sunlight decreased. Please poo near a streetlight. Shortest holiday season — Thanksgiving fights for its 3 weeks As The Jolly One encroaches. Doorbusters! The bird is barely carved. Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. Christmas club (remember those?) Spent. And then …
Timing: “Man plans; God laughs.”
It’s a Yiddish proverb, meaning roughly that while we scurry around trying to mold our lives into a certain shape, we fail to acknowledge that there are unknown forces/random chance at work that are likely to derail our efforts. I don’t know that we should view that as proof of a toying God, or that …
Providence; Or, how God is still speaking
I am a member of a UCC church – United Church of Christ, a blend of Congregational, Christian, Evangelical and Reformed denominations. We roll fairly liberal, siding with progressive just-causes and civil equality since the mid-17th century. Some may think this makes us “Christianity-lite.” Others don’t think much of us at all, lumping us in …
Surprise Ending
There is a story I know about what happens when someone ordinary proposes an extraordinary idea. So extraordinary that it completely rocks the foundations of all politics, societal conventions, and economic pursuits. It’s a simple concept, but a real axis-tilter. This idea sprouts from a decision to reject systems that oppress people based on a …
