Every time I hear the word "excellent" I think of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons and it makes me smile. Or, I can go back down memory lane in my mind to "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Either way, that word has a way of triggering several nostalgic images in my head. But the word…
Ellison Family Portraits
"Daddy, when will the leaves change colors?" With that, I knew I was entering into the time when my 8 year old was beginning to understand the changing of the seasons. "Do they call it 'Fall' because the leaves fall on the ground?" Wonderful!
I confess a deep love for Fall, mainly because of…
She said this to me with such painful expression. I had really let her down by wondering aloud if another one of our mutual friends was really going to follow through on what he promised to do. I can still hear the pain and disappointment in her voice "you 'doubting Thomas!'"
So what is it about…
It's no secret that family life is filled with challenges. To be honest, I don't think we've seen the real fallout of all the societal experiments we Americans have engaged in since all these movements have been demanding this or that change in society. One of the interesting, if unintended consequences, of these movements is…
To say that marriage is a hot topic today would be an understatement. But, you have to understand that the motivation for all this controversy about marriage today isn't new. And it isn't about equality or fairness or even compassion. It's about attack. It's about the real, yet unstated goal of some (after all, if…
What provokes you? Politics? Religion? Race? Inequity? Violence? Chaos (OK, this one is a personal provocation!)? No matter what might provoke you to action, if you allow the provocation to be your primary motivation, you are sure to always be provoked. You see, provocation is a "result", not a motive. And learning what is behind…
He was actually bragging about being the best at being the worst! I'm not kidding! I sat in front of him staring in absolute disbelief in what I was hearing. I was lamenting the shallow commitment of my own heart to the rigorous practice of the Faith, when he chimed in that "his people" were…
There's one word that those who know me best would NEVER use to describe me: Gentle! I don't know if it's my "creative" use of language or just my deep suspicion of spineless mediocrity, but I am rarely what you might call "gentle." I tend toward the "over-the-top" and brash black and white mindset of…
I stood line line for what seemed like hours, but my friends and I REALLY wanted tickets to this concert. I mean we really did! We wanted them so bad that standing outside for hours, missing other events, and even getting a little hungry didn't stop us from doing what we had to do to…
It's amazing how perspectives change as you get older.
When I was a kid in elementary school, we boys were absolutely convinced that the girls had cooties! Of course, we had no idea what "cooties" were, but if the girls had them then that meant we needed to be as far away from them as we…