We believe Amazon delivers happiness. We are happy when we get what we want. Many times, we need something more. This is the story of a cook who lost his more than his place. My mother subscribed to the idea that if truckers stopped at a restaurant, it is good food. So for a lot of my childhood, we surveyed the highway [...]
Every person hears a question knock on life’s door. Frustration gives it birth and mortality provides its cry. “Did I make any difference?” In the infancy of television, Rod Serling, a gravel-throated man with a dagger-like stare, produced a series called The Twilight Zone. Most of the episodes had a twinge of science fiction. It introduced young William Shatner and [...]
I am a sap for Christmas movies. I know. Most sell sentimental gooiness in heaping portions. In the movies (Hallmark or otherwise), everything works out right. After all, it's Christmas, and that's the way Christmas works. Everyone gets what they want. Many are old standards. You see St. Nick defending himself in Miracle on 34th Street. Jimmy Stewart stands on [...]
“Know thyself.” The Greek maxim snaked its way through history. Some old but unknown philosopher said it and moderns repeat it. Many a young man or woman has been told: “know thyself.” Fast forward centuries to the Globe Theater on the south bank of the Thames River. One night, a play by the shining star of the stage, William Shakespeare, came to [...]
The year 1955 seems like a watershed year. The Eastern Bloc formed a military alliance deepening the tensions of the Cold War. A tired little woman in Birmingham refused to give up her seat for a bullying bus driver. The boycott that followed was the push of a row of domino called the Civil Rights movement. America made its first commitment to [...]
An adage reminds us to "keep the main thing, the main thing." Andrew Luck realized what the "main thing" was. Luck is a phenomenal football player. With a father who quarterbacked in the National Football League, Luck seemed anointed at birth to handle a pigskin. He did and did it quite well. He played his college football at Stanford. As an All-American, [...]
Recently, I embarked on an effort to put what I remember of my life down on paper. Utilizing my writing process, I spend time each day opening a long-closed door and blowing the dust off of things dormant in my memory. Everyone lives their life, and underneath the present is a tapestry of events, people, and influences. Those elements comprise a spiritual [...]
The Chinese proverb counsels, “a journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.” It pictures a massive journey. A thousand miles stretch from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. Few would consider filling up the gas tank and drive the whole distance. Most would find places to stop. They break the trip into steps. When our daughter lived in [...]
"What's the best use of your time right now?" It was a question coined by one of the early "time management gurus" Alan Lakein. It has since become a mantra for people concerned about the use of their time. Lakein was fanatical about time use. He refused to own a television because it "wasted" so much time. (When men landed [...]
