Mrs. tVM has traveled for nearly three weeks in September. She returns this evening. In her absence, Clarence and I have kept our minds, bodies, and spirits active. Still, as another year on Earth comes to an end, one wonders how many are left. I thought about that this morning, and as I did, I remembered […]
Category Archives: Spirit
You Got Faith?
I have come to define faith this way: Faith is the knowledge that something exists or something is true without proof, or that an event will occur in the absence of reason and logic. There is great strength in faith. It is one of the core messages in my 2012 novella The Sixth Day, and […]
Solidarity Is Essential
“Spoiler Alert:” at over 1,000 words, this is one of the longer posts we’ve written. “Click” the arrows to open comments. Though disheartened when I learned that Goodyear listed “All Lives Matter” as unacceptable as part of its zero-tolerance policy, I take strength that others do believe that all lives matter and consider it a […]
Do Not Be Afraid
“The Lord is my shepherd… though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff give me strength, comfort, and courage… “ If Leonard Cohen is right – and I believe he is – this is the secret chord […]
Your Life Matters
Passing through the great room, I glanced at the HGTV show Mrs. tVM was watching this afternoon and noticed that the ‘star’ of show wore a t-shirt that read, “Let Your Smile Change the World.” Great stuff. Ever since I saw Forrest Gump run cross-country – literally ACROSS the country – I thought Forrest Gump […]
Faith Amid Doubt… Lincoln Still Smiles
The American landscape has changed drastically since I played chip-up baseball with Johnny Senger, Ray “Ping” Connors, the Filio brothers, and a handful of other future big-leaguers from nearby neighborhoods on the vacant lot behind the swamp next to our house on West Housatonic Street. Kids don’t do that anymore. America has been far from […]
The Nameless Giver
I have worked in the homeless community in Tucson ever since I met my friends Carl and Chuck in 2012 in the book store at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Picture Rocks, Arizona. Homeless himself for a while, Carl is the Director of the St. Francis Shelter in Tucson where Chuck is a board member […]
Four Truths
Ten years ago, I completed and published my second novel, The Hamsa. The Hamsa is about human dignity, the fact that every child is born with human dignity, that it has NOTHING to do with race, religion or status in life, that NO ONE can take our human dignity from us. We can give it […]
“My Feets Is Tired”
As a student of history, dates stick in my mind. Throughout my life, I remember ‘things’ by associating them with dates. As an example, my beautiful home in River Falls was located at 1890 Golf View Drive. Easy for me to remember because the massacre at Wounded Knee occurred in 1890 not so far away. […]
Extremists
The lawlessness and chaos of recent days are greatly disturbing. Many years ago, I defined my three greatest heroes as Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. They were extremists and the three men have made the most profound and positive impact on humanity since hominids began to walk upright. Common to each is his […]