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Lifestyle

This category gathers together blogs that deal with daily life matters. Sometimes generic, other times challenging and always positive, this category embodies the nitty-gritty of fullness-of-life.

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My own (most grevious) fault

  One of Lent’s compelling narratives comes in the ritual of Confession. Its verbiage is striking: “Our fault, our own fault, our own most grievous fault.” These words suggest something more than garden-variety sinfulness or the “mortal sins” that Roman Catholics name as the most serious. Not only do we own our unrighteousness, but also openly admit its severe consequences: In a word: It’sMORE...

Mess-makers and mess-sorters

I’m coming off a period of several weeks when digital spam-senders have been sorely afflicting me. This experience got me to thinking about two kinds of people—those who create messes and those who sort them out. In this case, the mess-creators flooded me with unrelenting torrents of unwanted information. Varieties of mess-makers invade other aspects of our lives—perhaps too many to waste ink onMORE...

What to do with an extra day

(As a present from yesteryears’ calendar wizards, you and I will get an entire extra day in this month. Today’s entry explores some possibilities for using this gift.) February 29th is like a time-bank whose deposits we get to withdraw now—an entire day added to our lives! How might we think differently about Leap Day if we considered it as something like a bonus or added-value coupon good onlyMORE...

Hope from a box

Sometimes you can find hope in surprising places. That happened to me one recent morning when I looked at the box that my (Family Size) Cheerios™ came in. Here’s what I learned… The good folks at General Mills—a Minneapolis-based corporation—apparently decided to do something helpful and hopeful about the state of the country/world: They partnered with Disney and Fandango to spotlight Disney’sMORE...

Imagining the next life stages IV

(Today’s blog is the last in a series of four entries that treat a matter that most older adults eventually face: How will we live well when that becomes difficult?) When the necessary preliminary work is finished, what’s left is the task of finding life-care arrangements that fit our expectations and hopes. Some are intangible—the feel of a facility, personal characteristics of likelyMORE...

Imagining the next life stages III

(Today’s blog is the third in a series of entries that treat a matter that most older adults eventually face: How will we live well when we can no longer take care of ourselves?) Once we’ve confronted our fears and worked at reframing our thinking, the next steps seem to be largely practical: Research the optimum facilities and choose the best options. There might be an intermediate step, though:MORE...

Imagining the next life stages II

Today’s blog is the second of a series of four entries that treat a matter that most older adults eventually face: How will we live well when that becomes more difficult or impossible?) It might help us to welcome future living arrangements if we started to reframe our ways of thinking—maybe with other folks helping us. See how these examples might fit you…. Move from loss of control toMORE...

Imagining the next life stages I

(Today’s blog is the first of a series of four entries that treat a matter that most older adults eventually face: How will we live well when that becomes difficult?) Presently, Chris and I take care of ourselves, our capabilities not yet severely diminished. I think we’re ready for what comes next. We’ve followed the guidance of counselors, physicians, financial advisors and friends, putting inMORE...

Waiting to be known

  I sometimes wonder how folks going about their daily routines might be waiting for the moment(s) when they could be known for who they really are. What thrives under their workplace exteriors. What they’re good at doing. What benefits they bring to the rest of us. How they live out their best selves. (An Advent theme, perhaps?) In that frame of mind, it isn’t too hard to imagine and valueMORE...

Finding hope in TV commercials

In our family, the sound gets turned off during TV commercials. It recently occurred to me that these soundless visual stories are doing more than selling products. Many of them may depict lived-out hope! I see a lot of ads related to health, automobiles, medical conditions, insurance and legal help. I witness pleas from charities and other non-profits, teasers for coming shows and a smatteringMORE...

Bob Sitze

BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.

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