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Stories

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Story Tellers For 19 years at or near the end of the month of May, I listened to stories. Sometimes I was actually a character in these stories; a primary, secondary, or simply a background person in the story. As a matter of fact, for several of those 19 years I actually assisted the story tellers; being an English teacher. The stories often involved young people encountering hardship, heartbreak, and struggles or challenges of all sorts; some of these tough times being the result of their own actions and other hardships brought upon the young story tellers by no fault of their own. The binding tie in all of these tales was the ending; all stories ended happily! Graduation Day Of course, I am speaking about high school students getting a diploma at a graduation ceremony. But the setting for all of the stories I was a part of for 19 years was an alternative high school that was designed to bring success to students in a nontraditional high school experience; Community High School in th...
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Interests of Others

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 “Regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” The apostle Paul, Philippians 2:3-5 Encounters with the Christ When I was in college, I memorized the entire book of Philippians; that’s 4 chapters, 104 verses, and 2183 words if you’re reading the King James version. I'm not bragging; I did it during a crucial spiritual turning point in my life. The writer of that book, Paul the apostle was changed through an incredible encounter with post death and resurrected Jesus while traveling on a remote stretch of road in the Middle East on his way to literally send Christians to their death. He later wrote the letter to the Philippians while confined in a prison cell. I memorized Philippians because like the apostle, I too had met the risen Christ, not in similar grandiose fashion, but equally powerful in the quiet confines of...
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Care

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The Nature of Caregiving Today’s Road in Retirement is a grueling highway dedicated to caregiving. Before we all yawn and stop reading, think for a second about caregiving; it impacts all of us either as givers or recipients of care. We take care of a sick friend or family member for a few days, we provide care for an aging parent or parent figure, we care for a baby’s every need, and the list goes on. Some of us, are even paid to care for others as doctors, nurses, and professionally trained caregivers. But here is the fork in the caregiving road. Often, we, me included, simply aren’t prepared for rendering or receiving care. We are driving down the road of life and suddenly on a remote stretch of pavement we find ourselves in a situation where either we or a loved one needs care to survive. I am living proof that if we find ourselves on that spooky road, and we turn earnestly to God, he is the answer. He always provides new sources of strength, help, perseverance, kindness, and love;...
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Good

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G ood Friday The seasons have changed here finally in the cold cold north with winter being swallowed up by warm southern breezes; there is great change for good . As a follower of Christ, I love the parallel of winter’s hardship and spring’s goodness compared to Christ’s suffering and death on Good Friday and his resurrection and joy celebrated on Easter Sunday. Good Friday was a good day in that a good God, brought a finality of payment for our evil and sins; all of this leading to our ability to experience the power of good, and to share that good with others.  Goodness in People The little boy in M. Night Shyamalan’s Sixth Sense made this phrase famous; “I see dead people,” with his supernatural sixth sense. On my Road in Retirement, I have too have a spiritual ability that has opened my eyes to see “ goodness ” in people. Suffering will do this to us. As stated in other blogs, I’ve had a lot of goodness extended to me on my road, in loud and large demonstrations and in soft a...
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Lent - Meaningful Sacrifice

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Sacrifice Throughout my life I have learned the pain and reward of sacrifice. In a godly spiritual sense, those two powerful concepts are intimately intertwined. Ok, I will confess I am talking about Lent. Lent leads up to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s painful death on the cross, resulting in the reward of salvation being offered to all mankind. The United Conference of Catholic Bishops has what I think is a good definition: “Lent is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully.” I think that covers it beautifully. My Len...
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On the Road with Saint Patrick

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Irish Roots On Monday, March 17, I will be honoring the passing of a special person with a toast of Baileys. In my road in retirement with Parkinson’s and a brain-bleed speech impediment, these moments have a bit more meaning because they add to my purpose. No, I will be honoring not only St. Patrick but my mother, Rita, as well. You see, my mom has sown principles, maybe even unknown to her, that St. Patrick lived by. She always prided the Irish side of her heritage and genes, O’Cullen, and in that spirit, many of us kids ended up with Irish-origin names; but we also took hold of some of that St. Patrick resiliency.  St. Patrick’s Influence St. Patrick was enslaved by Irish raiders or pirates who took him from his native Scotland to Ireland, where he was sold into slavery for six years. During that immensely dark time in his life, he endured great hardship. But later on, as a missionary priest to Ireland, he returned to Ireland and brought Christianity to Ireland, gained sainthood...
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Road to the Desert – Be Still Moments

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Be Still in Phoenix My last blog teed up what I’d been calling “be still” moments I experienced while vacationing a few days in the Phoenix, Arizona area with Chris and my younger son. To me, a be still moment is just taking a pause and focusing for a minute on God and his awesome presence, no matter the circumstances. When Moses killed an Egyptian and fled for the desert in a hurry (Exodus 3), no longer as a prince but as a fugitive, God had him stop and be still for a few moments, and then he spoke to Moses through a fiery blazing shrub. When Elijah killed the prophets of Baal and then ran into the desert fearing the wrath of Jezebel (1 Kings 19), God had him be still and then spoke to him through a still, small voice or gentle whisper. I haven’t killed anyone recently, but I needed some time in the desert and some be-still moments. First “Be Still” Moment To be truthful, one of my most poignant “be still” moments was within an hour after we arrived in Phoenix in a Walmart parking lo...
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