When I look at this picture of the house in Virginia in which I lived longer than any other house, before or since, I think of the following blessing . . . . . . May your path during this Christmas Season lead you to an open door which swings wide as you step into […]
I love the Geico commercial that has fun with the “loner cowboy.” Have you seen it? The cowboy sits on his horse while his girl comes running out weeping hysterically and yelling, “Don’t go, Jessie!” He says, “I’m sorry, Daisy, but I’m a loner. And a loner has to be alone.” He then kicks his […]
“I engaged her in conversation and after a few minutes, it became apparent to me that I had come into the presence of a very sharp, well informed intellect.”
Being human is a team sport. Sure you need to pull your own weight, but you pull your own weight better when you pull with others. Nobody ever does anything well alone. Take the sport of cycling. It’s seen as an individual sport but it’s far from it. Last year, I rode in the Hot […]
With this post, I begin a series of blogs about people I’ve known who’ve taught me over the years the value of throwing oneself into the mix of a team of service. Some of these folks I met in international contexts, others are as close as my home city. All of them had a profound […]
In doing support teams over the year and a half since I’ve been at UAB, I’ve met some fantastic people. But I wouldn’t have met them if I hadn’t gotten off my usual beaten path. It sort of reminds me of a discovery I made right after I ran into a bear once in the […]
When I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia a few years ago, I had no idea they had twin towers, too. Of course, from my American standpoint, there had been only one set of twin towers, the towers made famous by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Little did I know that when in Kuala […]
In the village of Siguatepeque, Honduras, lives a man named Augustin. Before the government gave free vaccinations to the children of the country, polio struck Augustin. For most of his 70 plus years, Augustin has lived in a wheelchair. He managed to learn a trade, however, and became a shoemaker. Augustin might have gone unnoticed […]
“Let me tell you why you’re here,” said Morpheus. Neo looks on with skepticism and we hear the ambient sound of thunder and rain. Morpheus continues: “You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. […]
I thought I’d moved to the “Sunny South” when I moved to Birmingham last year, but the Spring of 2014 didn’t exactly march in and take over. Last year, Spring was more like a timid child, peeping around the door into a room, fearful of what might be found in there. I think this year […]
Community Support Teams