My Inner Author

Of the many, many topics I have been pondering and working on drafts for blogging, I saw this story (link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/07/pastor-rick-warren-matthew-warren-suicide/2060337/ Vitriol Infuses Warren family grief) and decided I had to put those aside a moment and just say a few words about this.   Our society has known so many benefits from social media and the modern methods of communication, being able to share pictures and video with friends and family so far away almost instantly, the ability to share news and information so quickly, and even the ability to reach many other people you might otherwise never cross paths with in life.   However, there is also a dark side to it. Some people get caught up in the "make believe" of an online life, some use their virtual pulpit to spew their hated-filled diatribes and rants against those they disagree with, and perhaps most of all for me, the ability to instantly share your thoughts wi...

Fade In.  Camera pans into a hospital room. There are several machines clustered around a bed, lots of numbers, lights, and beeps.  An older patient is sleeping in the hospital bed, lots of tubes coming out of their arm hooked to the machines and drip bags beside the bed.  The patient is not sleeping well, the rest is a fitful one.  There are small groans and moans which slip out as they toss and turn. As the camera pulls back we see a hallway and a bit further down we see a waiting room.  There we see another older person crying, quietly sobbing, holding a tissue.  They are talking to the doctor and the news is apparently not good.  As the doctor leaves, we see the person continue to simply sit and cry.  Hours, even days may pass.  The visitor it turns out is the soulmate of our patient.  They have been together for nearly 40 years, sharing birthdays, vacations, life's many happy and sad moments.  However, now they...

Over the past 12 months or so our country has seen several horrific tragedies, the kinds of tragedies which spurn people to action, looking for solutions and ways to prevent such tragedies from ever happening again. Indeed, it is good to see our society is not ambivalent about evil coming to our world.  The movie theater killings in Denver and the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School are certainly the most public of them, but there have been many episodes where the public wanted to cry out in sadness and then spurn into action to prevent such horrific things from ever happening again.  We also look for reasons, explanations, something which might make sense of it maybe, and lastly we look to assign blame and responsibility somewhere. In October 2006, another murderous nutjob killed 5 innocent Amish schoolgirls between the ages of 6-13.  You may even recall hearing about it as well.  What you might not recall, since our national attent...

The recent tragedy in Newtown, CT has left our country feeling almost as it did after the events of 9/11.  Feelings of profound sadness, violation, loss of innocence, senseless violence, anger at those  responsible, and even emotional numbness are seemingly common.  Certainly not to the same scale, but indeed it is very difficult to come to grips with the fact 26 people, most of them children, were murdered in cold blood, by an evil, cowardly sociopath. In times like this many in our society are left looking for some sense of direction, for cues on how they should act and feel in such a situation.  They generally are not needing to know how to act, it is more of an attempt to try and understand the big question we are all left with in a tragedy like this: why?  Why did this horrible thing happen? Sadly, this is when everyone's heightened sense of awareness brings all kinds of answers to light: both the good and unfortunately, the bad. ...

To my fellow Facebook friends, Americans, parents and humans, Today we are all still processing and coping with the tragedy which took place yesterday afternoon in Connecticut, trying to make sense of the needless tragedy of so many innocent lives which were taken by evil.   Indeed, it is a tragedy any time an innocent life is taken, and those feelings are only heightened when children are involved.   This is not to minimize the adults who were also tragically murdered for trying to save lives yesterday, but whether we will openly admit it or not, when adults are killed it is tragic, when children are killed, it saddens us beyond words, it tears at our soul, and it almost always leads to anger.   Why did this happen?   Why didn't someone do more to stop it?   Indeed, I wish this were a world where Harry Potter magic could be real, and mere words or incantations could bring about some sense of peace or comfort in these times.   Sadly, there are ...

Well, the election is less than 2 weeks away, and now it is crunch time for the campaigns.   In previous posts, I discussed the beginnings of our country, it's values, it's ideals, it's goals from the Founders' own words.   Also, included were a look at some of the typically outrageous and contradictory statements made by our leaders to examine the veracity and believability of what they vocalize publicly and for the record, a discussion of the importance of balancing our budget and saving our economy, but perhaps most telling is the current state of affairs.   I, for one, think our country can do so much better than the status quo.   During my college years I studied history and political science, and it has remained a hobby and passion of mine in the many years since those school days.   We are faced with some less than inspiring choices this time around.   Quite simply this election will come down to a few issues and factors, and little else wil...

No One Side Of The Aisle Has The Moral High Ground There are so many ways to view the various issues which are important in this election cycle. But, before I continue with the issues which are so relevant to many of us this election, I think it is VERY important to lay down an absolute.   Yes, absolutes in politics are an oxymoron typically, but as poisoned by partisan-based vitriol, the nearly complete loss of civility online and indeed in the world itself, there is something I simply want to state for the record. Just because you support a left-leaning/liberal ideology which typically is associated in the modern culture with caring more about homeless people, the elderly, minorities, the sick, the down and out, and so forth; it does not mean others do not.   You do not have a monopoly on compassion and caring.   Honestly, I resent the holy hell out of such an assumption.  It offends me to the core because it is dishonest and disingenuous. ...