The wife in the coupleship who serve as Bethesda Workshops’ alumni directors, Shane Oakley, is an avid birdwatcher. She has the apps and binoculars, a great backyard full of birds,
READ MOREBeing Well Revisited
Note: This blog was originally published a few years ago, yet my thoughts have returned to it often recently. I’m recycling it for this January offering in hopes it also
READ MORECancer-free Christmas – My Six-month Journey with Carcinoid
The call came on a Thursday afternoon in late May while I was teaching a clinical training: a nurse reporting the results from a screening test done a couple of
READ MOREThankful for the Failings
Be assured that Facebook has some great postings that aren’t tied to what you just searched on Google. One of these is a creative, beautifully written, and thought-provoking page called
READ MORECelebrating Ministry, Celebrating Life
Twenty-five years is a long time. The year 1997 was marked by the deaths of Mother Teresa in India and of Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash
READ MOREAngels Among Us
Sometimes an ordinary happenstance takes on significant meaning. I regularly experience this when I’m hiking, as I see a hawk, a deer, a beautiful tree, or a cloud formation and
READ MORESomeone To Cheer for You
Being a GrandMarnie is one of the greatest joys of my life. I’d like to think that time spent together is fun to my grandkids and helpful to their parents,
READ MOREMore Than a Pile of Brush
As part of a backyard improvement project, I hired a couple of guys to cut back some tall bushes, almost trees, that were overgrown and hanging out into the yard.
READ MOREFire and Rain
Although it’s not yet summer in the meteorological sense, oppressive heat has settled into Middle Tennessee. I’ve been known to light a fire even when I must open the patio
READ MOREReframe of the Hawks
For over two years MamaGod has consoled and delighted me with an unusual gift. It’s a regular happenstance I first experienced in early 2020, when something caught my eye as
READ MOREOf Roses and Thorns
Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like a rollercoaster, except you don’t realize the huge jerking turns are coming, much less the stomach-dropping plunge. Yet this
READ MOREThe Blue Scarf
A small park next to the library in my neighborhood has a statue that I’ve idly noticed for years. “The Readers” by artist Russell Faxon is a life size bronze
READ MORESimple Thanksgiving Joys
When I moved out of the house I had occupied for almost 30 years, it was only the second time in my life I had lived alone. (The first was
READ MOREUnexpected Story: Distressed, Blindsided, Ravished, Relieved, Restored
Where do I begin to tell this story, this rest of the story? Since March, I have only shared one blog, on May 4th on my 65th birthday, and this
READ MOREOn Sixty-five
Today, May 4th, is my 65th birthday, and I’m feeling an internal pressure to share something profound. Instead, I’ll go for something real, which likely is the most insightful truth
READ MOREEaster Indeed!
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18, New International Version) Despite the promise and the pageantry of Easter (at least
READ MOREShame Is a Killer
The tragic murder of eight people in Atlanta-area spas last week continues to ripple across the nation as people try to make sense of such a horrific act. My heart
READ MORETwenty Dollars Multiplied
In July 2020, a stalwart man from the Middle Tennessee community was killed in a tragic accident. Ty was a respected, very successful businessman and a person of deep faith
READ MOREWe Can Do Hard Things
On one of my long walks during the pandemic, I wound up at a high school’s athletic complex a couple of miles from my house. In addition to the football
READ MOREBlessing for the Longest Night
During this pandemic year of devastation and loss, words have failed me to write something meaningful for Christmas. The nights have felt so long for so many, including sometimes for
READ MOREThanksgiving for All That Remains
To be honest a holiday dedicated to giving thanks seems mistimed this year, which has often been described as a dumpster fire. I would liken 2020 more to a global
READ MORENewsflash: Live a Principled Life
Current states of affairs have me thinking about values, specifically the values that are my own north stars. I recently reviewed the personal work I did in late spring of
READ MOREKevin and the Labyrinth
Every summer I try to carve out for myself three consecutive weeks in the Bethesda Workshops calendar, and I spend part of that time in the mountains of Western North
READ MOREConsolation of the Hawks
Since I started a recovery process almost three decades ago, I’ve been suspicious of coincidences, which I experience frequently. Even in childhood I always perceived them as something far more
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