In this category you can find all the blogs that focus on mind/body matters, separately or intertwined. As people age, this aspect of life can be the most worrisome or worse. In these blogs, “fullness” suggests otherwise.
Lately, my times of prayer seem to be interwoven with memories of time-and-place experiences in life. These reveries include entire clusters of beloved people. (For example, when I remember our San Leandro, California years, my mind gathers together Rich and Gretchen, Liz and Larry, Mary and Jim, Barry, Ralph, Sandy, Linda, Wendy, Aunt Mona, Chris and our kids, and my 3rd-4th graders—and theMORE...
Lately I’ve felt nudged towards thoughts and attitudes that in other times I would have called unhinged. Chaotic international and domestic events highlight supposed leaders whose pronouncements seem deranged. (For example, competing national leaders trumpet the supposed benefits of oppression and/or aggression. Incoherently angry people gather followers and legitimacy. Self-destructiveMORE...
(While knee-deep in preparation for All Soles Day observances, I came upon this idea that was tiptoeing around inside my neuronal interweavings.) Lately I’ve noticed that I’m not getting the amount of sympathy that I think I deserve. To correct this deficit, I want to share with you the results of a recent X-ray of my left foot, revealing the following pathos-worthy conditions. Mild degenerationMORE...
In grade school, when we were learning the format for writing personal letters, some of us—probably the boys—wondered why we always started these letters with “Dear.” So we asked—probably with some pre-teen embarrassment—and the teacher responded with something about “writing conventions that don’t necessarily mean what they say.” Relieved of the possibility of inadvertently expressing ourMORE...
(This entry started out as a rant—a collection of raging observations about truth-under-attack and the triumph of liars. After considering the various rabbit trails of angry content, I realized that I was jousting with windmills and heading towards foolishness. So instead, I present to you a simpler set of observations about seeking truth.) Truth’s reassuring reach enters into every aspect of theMORE...
One of the possible side effects of COVID’s isolation is the number of congregation members that we might have lost track of. Nowadays, that phenomenon may be connected to some folks’ consistent online worship attendance. Virtually invisible to us, these good people may think of themselves as connected and active, but the rest of us might not realize this is true. If this sounds familiarMORE...
Dementia may be an unspoken matter that nags at our older adult well-being. It may also be one of those conditions I don’t talk about with others, perhaps unsure how to broach the subject. I know that this condition is broader than one specific disease—e.g., Alzheimer’s—and that only a percentage of older adults might have to deal with complete cognitive loss. I am also aware that medicallyMORE...
In the past few days, I’ve been feeling more than a little relieved. It seems that, per Amos 5:24, justice is once again rolling like an unstoppable river. That the laws of this land are being upheld and miscreants brought to trial. That rickety empires of lying, hate and disregard are collapsing. I think it’s okay to be gratified when evil gets cut down and withers. When generalized shame erodesMORE...
This entry completes a series of entries about my reactions to the remarkable insights in a *new book about awe. Today: What’s the big deal, anyhow? I owe you an explanation about what lies under my perhaps-dispassionate reporting about awe and wonder. I’ll be direct: As desirable and practiced attitudes, awe and wonder may hold promise as solutions—or at least corrections—to some of theMORE...
Previously I reviewed a *new book about awe. In this entry I share some of the author’s significant, hopefully useful observations. Today: Awe as a whole-body phenomenon. Social scientist and author Dacher Keltner describes the physical characteristics of awe-filled experiences, adding details to the truth that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14). His specific findings add upMORE...
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.