we are…

For the first time, I am spending a couple of days away from my wife and 3 month old son. It wasn't an expected thing but, as circumstances would have it, I am reverting to my bachelor self for a brief moment. That means, above all, that I am wasting as much time as possible …

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who decided that?

I sit here in a coffee shop on my day off taking care of some work that I am doing for the fun of it. This work includes, but is not limited to, working on the index for a forthcoming publication and doing some preparation, i.e., reading lots of stuff, for an article I am …

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why?

Today is a nice day, a bit chilly for some, but a nice day nonetheless. In all actuality today, although it is nice, is probably the worst day of someone's life. Maybe it isn't yours, and it certainly isn't mine, but somewhere around the world someone is suffering the worst heartbreak they will ever experience. …

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never pretty and always entails agony…

The march to Lord Stanley's Cup has begun. It is a beautiful march. There are twists and turns, drama and heartbreak, injury and success. It will end in euphoria. Hockey is a sport with more than it's fair share of conflict. Whether that is dropping the gloves or lighting the lamp, hockey wouldn't be what …

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worthless and empty

Baseball has begun. Although it did not start well for my beloved boys on the south side of Chicago it is a sign that the winds of the sports world are changing. Hockey is getting ready to begin its second season. Basketball goes into hibernation. Football is starting to bounce its leg in anticipation of …

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in the end, I don’t matter…

Those of you who know my story know that I grew up with a Lutheran, that is Missouri Synod Lutheran, identity. Part of that is because of the Lutheran day school attached to the congregation of my youth. Six days a week were spent in its walls, unless I was playing sick, which happened a …

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stop fighting for my freedom

It seems as though every day something else finds its way into my news feed regarding religious freedom. It could be the freedom to live and breathe in the face of militant fanatics obscuring for the public the tenents of their belief system. It could be the freedom to deny services or goods to people …

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happy birthday mr. presdient…

Dates and places seem to be important markers for things. My birthday, the day I was baptized, my first comminion, my confirmation, the day I graduated high school, college, seminary, or the day I got married, ordained, installed. All of those dates bear varying amounts of significance in my life. For the most part though, …

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frank and fraternal…

I have a habit of not just reading one book at a time. Currently I am shuffling between three books, which is fairly average for me. Sometimes I find value in just plowing through one of them, but, more often than not, I find reading multiple books helps me think. There is something about putting …

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not resolved by power…

One of the wonderful things I get to do by virtue of my day off is spend time at a coffee shop near where my wife works. I hang out there for a variety of reasons: the people, the coffee, the opportunity to read in silence if I so choose. It is also a place …

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