Dark dreams of childhood: My journey through life – Part II

We are impacted as people by sharing life with others and learning how their stories can shape our own, so here is mine. I was born and raised in rural northern Florida to a middle class, Christian family in the very early 1980s. My dad is from Indiana, where most of his family remains, but […]

Caring: My journey through life – Part I

Often I feel like I just don’t care. “Don’t care about what?” you may retort. Well, a whole lot of anything, according to how I feel. Getting out of bed. Going to work. Interacting with people. Thinking. More often than I care to admit, I’d rather just take a nap or read books or watch […]

Trust and hope

You’ve heard it before, but there are few guarantees in life. Given that fact, it’s easy to view trust and hope as idiotic things. Why should anyone trust anyone else or hope in things that may very well never come to pass? I once thought I had some good answers to those questions, but time […]

Loneliness (and being human)

*sigh* Well, I’m lonely again. Those of us who have been single for any significant period of time can relate, as can a lot of us who are in or have been in challenging relationships. Loneliness is a kind of depression, or it’s at least closely connected. There is a sense of hopelessness and despair […]

Racism and Christianity

A Southern, white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant male in his mid-thirties writes about racism – a lot could go wrong here. Racism was never a topic I was interested in while growing up. I didn’t hate anyone, so – WASP that I am – why would it have been? But a funny thing happens when one is […]

The weight of guilt and shame

Living life with feelings of guilt or shame stinks. If you’ve lived any significant number of years, chances are you have some regrets. You’ve probably made some choices and done some things you wish you could take back. I know I certainly have. And it’s been really tough for me to make peace with myself. […]

The past, memory, and who we really are

I realized I lost a lot of my personal pictures today. It struck me really hard as I come to grips with knowing a lot of the tangible reminders I have of a period of time in my daughter’s life and a handful of wonderful trips I’ve taken may be gone for good. This comes […]