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.
If you’ve gone through anything resembling a catharsis—a complete re-examination of your identity, purpose or worth—you might remember a possibly chaotic emotional state right before this deep self-cleaning began. Those emotions—including total repentance and longing for a fresh start—may have been strong motivation for you to move beyond the dead-end of an unsatisfying self-concept or lifestyleMORE...
It’s taken me awhile to admit that I’m an older gentleman. (I’ve always been an odd guy, but older was a bit harder.) “Frail elder” will be similar: There might not be a definitive moment when I’ll say to myself, “Okay, NOW I’m a frail person.” Frailty—whatever it is—is probably sneaking up on me. Parts of my anatomy don’t work as well. I come away from medical tests and doctor visits withMORE...
There IS one, and society benefits from its presence. The organizations and individuals who constitute the enterprise of philanthropy make possible the well-being of all of us. Lately, it feels like this segment of American commerce may have hit a rough patch. Chris and I continue to receive in the mail increasing amounts of free gifts. Their implicit message seems plausible: “We have given youMORE...
Every so often I hearken back to my early childhood memories. Today’s trip back in time took me to my first “memory work.” I attended a Lutheran grade school, and even in first grade we were assigned a daily Bible verse (or other important piece of spiritual truth) to memorize. The first entry in our memory book was 1 John 4:16b, “God is love.” My reaction on completing this assignment? “HeyMORE...
“What’s actually true?” This question is as old as Jacob fooling his vision-challenged father Isaac and as current as AI’s uncanny ability to invent and shape words, images and sounds. The matter of verifying truth has become a necessary skill, perhaps especially for those of us who are targeted with misinformation, manipulation or malpractice. Today a few reminders about developing a truthMORE...
None of us would ever empty Easter of its power. Absent Easter’s premises and promises, the Christian life wouldn’t have much more to offer than a religion invented by science fiction writers or social malcontents. What, then, might happen if, after Easter had passed, we hadn’t changed one iota of our lives. Wouldn’t we be turning Easter into something artificial or empty? It would notMORE...
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...
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...
(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...
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...
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.