Posts – Page 10 – Deepening Our Journey

Celebrating Characters!

February 10, 2019

I love meeting new people. Every single person is unique, with their own unique history, personality, and perspective. But some people are, shall we say, more unique than others! Some terms I have heard to describe these people on the far end of the continuum are oddball, offbeat, quirky, peculiar, strange, kook, weirdo, eccentric, and “not playing with a full deck.” Personally, I call them characters. One of the easiest ways to spot an authentic character is to observe the general public‘s reaction to them. It can be rolling of

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What Happened to the Unicorns?

December 27, 2018

The sanctuary was filled with alligators! There were also long-necked geese (I’m sure some of the older folks were concerned about the carpeting!), humpty-backed camels, some excited chimpanzees, and they’d even managed to somehow fit an elephant through the front door. But most extraordinary of all were the unicorns. I had never seen such a herd of the magical creatures! It was Sunday morning and the children’s choir was singing The Unicorn Song, the charming piece by Shel Silverstein and set to music by the Irish Rovers, which imagines that

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The Ugly American

October 23, 2018

During a recent cruise vacation, Rita and I were having lunch at the open dining restaurant that Rita referred to as “the trough” when I overheard two couples talking at the table behind us. The one gentleman explained how badly he felt about taking so much food and then not being able to eat it all. The other gentleman quickly and loudly stated, “I paid for this vacation with my own hard-earned money and I’ll eat as much and throw away as much food as I want!” It got very

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The Lesson of the Lodgepole Pines

August 7, 2018

During a recent trip to Glacier National Park, Rita and I took one of the most amazing and awesome drives we have ever experienced. Along the road we saw several areas that had been destroyed by fire, great swaths of charred black pines, dead and yet fighting to stay upright. On closer observation, you could see thousands of little lodgepole pines in various levels of growth. The extreme contrast of the vibrant electric green against the charred black landscape made for a dramatic sight. My initial thought when I viewed

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Meeting a Mormon in Mid-air!

June 20, 2018

On a flight from Philadelphia to Minnesota, on our way to Glacier National Park and eventually the Canadian Rockies, my wife and I happened to be seated beside a banker from Calgary Canada I’ll call Daniel. After we had pressed Daniel for the best places to visit in Canada, as often is the case, I carefully and craftily moved our conversation to my lifelong interest in the formation of God image. It’s easy enough to do when I tell people I’m writing a book I on the topic. I hope

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Front of a grocery cart against an out-focus grocery store aisle background

The Gift of Failure

August 17, 2017

I could smell the rotisserie chicken as the Hispanic man placed three warm plastic dome containers on the checkout counter in front of me. I hadn’t eaten since lunch and my stomach was letting me know. I commented on how good the chicken smelled and that he must really be hungry! The man gave me a puzzled look and said something in what sounded like Spanish. The teenager who was bagging the groceries interpreted the man’s response for me. “He said the chicken is lunch for him and several of

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Encountering God at the Roadside Diner

June 11, 2017

“What a character!” That was my assessment after a twenty-second observation. She wore a rather large bright red hat, very colorful dress, and I guessed she was finishing the second half of her life journey and fighting for the third half! My wife Rita and I were about five hours into our trip back home to Pennsylvania from our winter quarters in Florida. The driver was getting hungry so Rita checked out Tripadviser for recommendations for a restaurant in the area. Number two of 18 was a mile ahead on

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