"Don't let anybody push you around!" I had just gotten into my very first fist fight, and I lost! It was humiliating. So, after this guy punched me in the nose I went to the principal's office to complain about this bully. The principal was very understanding and helped me, but then he gave me…
What confuses me most about today's societal chaos is the whole idea of "empowerment." It strikes me as so very misplaced and wrongheaded.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand the motivation of wanting to correct a feeling of powerlessness. I'm just convinced that the current method being championed by those who keep on insisting they…
Why all the drama? OK, I have to confess, I am no fan of drama for drama's sake, and I'm in the house with two daughters who excel in drama! "She touched me" "She's looking at me" WHAT? She's "looking at you? Really? I guess I didn't get the "drama" gene, because nothing sets me…
I was watching a well known leadership teacher speak recently (I like to keep up with this world since I find this both helpful and cautionary) and he was commenting about the necessity of making decisions to change. And he used some commonly heard excuses about why someone doesn't live up to their potential: "I…
When I was just learning about the Orthodox Faith, I was struck by the wisdom of fasting from certain foods. You see, I had been raised to think that a fast was no food at all, just water. And I would hear stories of Pentecostal pastors "fasting" for a month or even 40 days and…
Perspective changes everything. Just take for example the modern tendency to hold up the anti-hero as someone to be admired or at least respected, and sometimes, even cared for.
This is especially true in several contemporary television series. From Tony Soprano to Walter White of Breaking Bad fame, it seems our modern media is desperate for…
I love what I read recently about being famous: "Being famous on Instagram or Facebook is like being rich in the game Monopoly." That is so true.
But we have a shallow culture today that seems to be addicted to being famous or "great" in the eyes of the people we want to think well of…
Paul Laurence Dunbar, an American poet of the early 20th century, wrote a wonderful poem called "Sympathy" and the third stanza is powerful in its pathos and beauty and heart-breaking truth:
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It…
The American astronaut Buzz Aldrin once said “Timing has always been a key element in my life. I have been blessed to have been in the right place at the right time.” And, of course, this reminds me of the old saying in comedy, “Timing is everything.”
It really is amazing when all the elements of time, opportunity, ability,…
Listen to this quote from St. Peter of Damaskos: “Patient endurance kills the despair that kills the soul; it teaches the soul to take comfort and not to grow listless in the face of its many battles and afflictions." Wow, "the despair that kills the soul." How often have I seen that in the people who…
