Some thirty years ago, I was given the opportunity to be a part of the reclamation of a gorgeous seventy-three room colonial-style mansion, as well as the property and numerous out-buildings that were part of this massive, rolling estate.  It had set empty, hauntingly still and seemingly comatose for several decades, with suffocating layers of … [Read more...]

Sometimes life is much more about reflection than solving problems.  Sometimes it does us good just to watch, and in the watching discover the undiscovered.  In the discovering, to then savor what we discovered.  Sometimes we would do well to simply soak up this thing we call "life" rather than dissect it, attempt to control it and in doing so both … [Read more...]

It is worthy to note those things upon which we wage war.  There are those completely virtuous and entirely untainted causes that are birthed at those seminal moments when the very foundation of the whole of our existence is suddenly teetering on some precarious precipice.  Indeed, in every generation there are those utterly horrifying moments when … [Read more...]

I don’t know how I got it or where it came from, but Mom always said it was mine.  Sometimes we are gifted small things that appear to be the epitome of small things.  Yet, lifetime treasures are always packaged in small things because only small things have enough space to hold something that large. The Christmas tree was always tastefully … [Read more...]

The holidays bring people together.  Parties, various celebrations, innumerable gatherings of various kinds all present us with opportunities to warmly engage people we rarely see throughout much of the year.  Indeed, it is a natural time of joining and rejoining. Yet, in all of the merriment and festivities, old issues are given renewed space … [Read more...]

With days shortened and the breathtaking migrations now concluded, the last leaves of autumn would spin in some nimble dance set to the music of the seasons, bow in the exit of a season well lived, and then graciously turn the stage of the world over to a winter’s rest.  With fall having spun off the stage until the next year’s curtain call, the … [Read more...]

Speaking to Our Deepest Humanity Christmas and New Years are both rich with meaning and filled with ornate tradition.  Christmas beautifully embodies and subsequently displays a desperately needed hope that something bigger is with us, that ‘God is with us’ despite how terribly difficult our journey might be, how terrifyingly lonely we so … [Read more...]

As the snow began to quietly début winter’s arrival, I made my yearly descent to the basement.  Rummaging through the backwaters of the musty root cellar, I spied the dusty stack of aged boxes with the word “Christmas” hastily scrawled across their cardboard sides.  Inside of them lay the wonder of Christmas embodied in carefully crafted … [Read more...]

We humanize God.  It’s in our nature to create and craft a god who is more of us and less of anything divine.  We have this terribly odd proclivity to need a god, but to concurrently need that god to be something that we can control.  We want a deity that has enough supernatural qualities to rush into our lives in times of crisis, or handily answer … [Read more...]

Thanksgiving.  To the destruction and detriment of those who live there, it will perish in an environment within which a sense of entitlement and greed rules the day.  Conversely, on the opposite end of that spectrum, a sense of thanksgiving will thrive and it will breathe life into any place where a heart of appreciation and gratitude refuses to … [Read more...]