Category: Faith
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Retirement 101
Earlier this year, a good friend of mine retired. Having made that same decision four years ago, I called to offer, at no charge, my unsolicited, been-there-done-that advice as his retirement adviser. I thought I heard an appreciative response on the other end of the phone. Or was it a skeptical chuckle? Regardless, I proceeded…
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Praying for the President
Political commentary is not my thing. I have intentionally avoided blogging about politically charged topics with one or two exceptions. “Potty Talk” (October 3, 2018) and “Make America Good Again?” (February 8, 2019) both spoke to the nastiness that pervades our political dialogue. Today, however, I cannot resist the opportunity to do so again, but…
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It’s Lent But Easter’s Coming!
Growing up in suburban Atlanta in the 1950s and 1960s, I recall how every Friday of each Spring, my family avoided eating out at a nearby fish restaurant (Rio Vista). I was told it was because Catholics ate fish on Fridays due to something called Lent. And Rio Vista was always crowded on Fridays. When…
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Gratitude: Cause or Effect?
Reading a recent Facebook post of a cousin prompted me to ponder the virtue of gratitude. Is it a cause or an effect? My cousin was grateful for surviving a narrow escape from death after a frightening encounter with an errant dump truck. Gratitude was most definitely the result of her near-miss death experience. Her…
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Grandfather Therapy
Now, for the first time on TheBuddyBlog.com is an updated version of one of my most popular Reflections, Grandfather Therapy. Since first published, the number of my grandchildren has doubled. So have the therapy sessions. So have the lessons learned. I have concluded that grandchildren, or at the very least, the nine who call me…
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Make America Good Again?
One of the most visual symbols of the current President is his red hat emblazoned with the letters MAGA, for Make America Great Again. It is a hat worn by those who support him and mocked by those who disdain him. Who thought a hat would become a lightning rod for confrontation? One only has…
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Groundhog Morality
Today, February 2nd is Groundhog Day when tradition holds that if a groundhog sees his shadow, he will return to his burrow and we will have six more weeks of Winter. Punxsutawney Phil, the famous Pennsylvania groundhog, saw his shadow this morning, so springtime in the North may be delayed. Yet his Southern cousin, General…
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Is Pink the New Color of Evil?
What do the United States, North Korea, China, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Canada, and Singapore have in common? Only these seven countries allow abortion after 20 weeks. And if New York Governor Cuomo has anything to do with it, the United States will be in a class by itself. The State of New York already…
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The Epiphany
In 2004, one of our daughters joined the Peace Corps for a two-year assignment in the Republic of Georgia. When she came home on furlough for Christmas, she chuckled at the prospect of experiencing two gift-giving celebrations that year on two continents, Christmas in the States and the Epiphany in the Republic of Georgia. Though…
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But Now, I See
Today is January 1, 2019, the 250th-anniversary of….wait. Before you start celebrating, a little background might be in order. It begins with a man named John. Born in 1725, he spent the first seven years of his life in England. With his father at sea, his loving mother doted on her son, taking him to…
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