This morning, I forgave Garrison Keillor for his transgressions real or imagined. I sent him my words of forgiveness through the contact form on his website. Garrison Keillor You may or may not know Garrison Keillor or anything about him. I know him as a magical writer who has brought smiles to the masses with …
Author Archives: tVM
Minimizing the Common Cold with Zinc
Few physical ailments make routine life more miserable than the common cold particularly when it threatens to emerge during the summer. The Dreaded Sore Throat Yesterday morning, I woke up with the dreaded sore throat. Most colds are caused by a type of virus called rhinovirus, which thrives and multiplies in the nasal passages and throat …
Loon Lake
Although I lived many years at the base of the Adirondack Mountains in Holland Patent, NY, I have never seen a loon. I read Loon Lake when E.L. Doctorow published it in 1980. We lived in Upstate New York at the time, but I remember little about the book. I do recall that I enjoyed …
Making the World a Better Place
I know for certain that THE MOST EFFECTIVE way to make the world a better place to be is by greeting, smiling and waving at every creature – man, woman, child, animal, and plant – you encounter throughout the day. Those simple gestures go much farther than any dollar you could contribute to the most …
The Presence of God
Sometimes it is easy to imagine the presence of God. Sometimes it is not.
The Ragamuffin Gospel
The best ‘spiritual’ book I have ever read is The Ragamuffin Gospel, and I discovered it through my association with the late great singer-songwriter Rich Mullins. I wrote about it four years ago in a post titled “Ragamuffin.” I am still far from all the answers and I remain a seeker, but The Ragamuffin Gospel …
“My Sister Died of an Overdose”
The Summer 2018 issue of Plough Magazine focuses on ‘medicine’ and is appropriately titled “The Soul of Medicine.” While every article packs a punch, one article in particularly- “Let Me Stand” – struck me with the force of a powerfully swung two-by-four landing squarely in the center of my forehead. Humanizing Medicine As readers of …
Kayak Adventure
Earlier this year, I acquired a tandem kayak for the specific purpose of introducing my grandchildren to the activity. From my outdated perspective, there is far more adventure to be had in a kayak on a river than there is to be had in a theatre seat with a tub of greasy popcorn at a …
Scrutinized Sentiments
Even for those few of us who aren’t glued to a video screen throughout the day monitoring the ‘news’ as presented by ‘legitimate’ news broadcasters and the millions of social media experts who riddle out brains with a never-ending flow of commentary on whatever they disagree with, it was difficult to avoid the now famous …
The Town by the Bend in the River
We posted a similar article in 2015. Not much has changed in three years as we as a society continue to avoid looking around the bend in the river. In his 1999 book The Holy Longing, Ronald Rolheiser tells a story attributed to Dennis Connor, an associate professor at Gonzaga University. Father Rolheiser says the story …