At times, the innumerable dialogues regarding the state of our nation appear to be less dialogues and more something akin to agenda mongering and rights crusading.  It seems that we have hijacked the solemn rights and sacred liberties afforded us and have forced them into servitude around our ego-centric agendas and myopic special interests.  The … [Read more...]

You’ve probably heard it said before; “nothing’s sacred anymore.”  There seems to be a core truth in that statement that continually gathers momentum.  We don’t appear to value a whole lot of things anymore in a sacred kind of way that makes something intensely worthy of our fullest admiration.  Quite the opposite, we seem to have embraced this … [Read more...]

What do we do when there’s something that we don’t like or find difficult?  How do we approach the tough stuff; the things we’ve done or said or participated in that “stick in our craw,” that dog our steps and are just plain revolting and downright ugly?  What do we do with the less than savory stuff; the stuff that leaves a bad taste in our … [Read more...]

What do you say during times of crisis like these?  You want to say something revelatory and deeply meaningful to buoy the spirits of people and give them sufficient hope to lean into the challenges wrought of the crisis and valiantly press through them.  You want people to be reflective in a way that they are not during the calmer times so that … [Read more...]

Do we search for the truth, or do we search for ways around the truth?  Do we even take the time to consider a question like that out of the long-held assumption that we are, in fact, looking for the truth because (we assume) that that’s the obvious thing to do?  What insanity would behoove us to do anything less?  But do we search for the truth, … [Read more...]

What is independence?  Definitions abound, but what is it in actuality?  The Encarta Dictionary describes it as "freedom from dependence on or control by another person, organization, or state."  At its core, it's freedom from dependence or control.  It grants self-autonomy and self-directedness free of encumbrances.  Independence provides the … [Read more...]

We all have…problems.  And there’s a real good chance that we have a lot of…problems.  Life comes with problems.  It’s part of the deal.  It’s a natural part of this thing that we’re all doing called life.  Life comes with problems.  But the real problem is not that life comes with problems.  The real problem is what we do with them. The Problem … [Read more...]

The world is spinning in ways we once felt would only be experienced through fiction penned by authors and portrayed by various screenwriters who themselves lived in dark places and spent their days meandering through deeply foreboding thoughts.  The impossible, the absurd, the irresponsible, the irrational and the improbable were certainly the … [Read more...]

History has pivoted on ordinary people who when faced with extraordinary circumstances drew on some deeply submerged essence of their humanity and were, in those most harrowing of moments, transformed into extraordinary people.  There are those who held themselves of no accord who stood in harm’s way or entered the dangers of the fray and turned … [Read more...]

What is a warrior?  Who are these combatants who take up arms in whatever way that they take them up?  The shared sense is that a warrior is someone who engages in battle.  That’s quite different from a terrorist who holds that the perceived virtue of the cause justifies the slaughter of the innocent, or someone who runs hard with psychopathic … [Read more...]