Words

November 30, 2023

Finding hope in TV commercials

By Bob Sitze

In Arcania, Lifestyle, Soul Searchings, Words

November 30, 2023

2 Min Read

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30November

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...

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November 16, 2023

Thankswriting

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Lifestyle, Personal Power, Words

November 16, 2023

2 Min Read

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16November

One of Chicagoland’s best newspaper columnists is a guy named *Neil Steinberg. Like all good writers, he’s nimble with words. His faith, heritage and life experience have rendered him wise, empathetic and honest. His columns consistently shine light on difficult subjects, and he showers kindness on under-appreciated facets of civic life. He’s transparent about his emotions, his struggles and hisMORE...

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November 9, 2023

Clustered prayers

By Bob Sitze

In Lifestyle, Mind/Body, Soul Searchings, Words

November 9, 2023

2 Min Read

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09November

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...

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November 2, 2023

Can I get some pity here?

By Bob Sitze

In Arcania, Mind/Body, Words

November 2, 2023

2 Min Read

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02November

(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...

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October 23, 2023

Re-formation

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Lifework, Words

October 23, 2023

2 Min Read

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23October

Today’s entry might serve as a kind of prequel for your Reformation Day (Sunday) celebration. My spouse Chris’s  observation: You can’t “re” anything that doesn’t already exist, so it makes sense that there must have been some kind of valuable formation before the Protestant Reformation. When Creation was nearing completion, Adam and Even came into existence as God-formed creatures. Unlike theMORE...

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October 12, 2023

If/then prophets

By Bob Sitze

In Personal Power, Soul Searchings, Time, Words

October 12, 2023

2 Min Read

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12October

Ancient prophets were probably prudent as well as prescient. They looked around and saw the realities of consequences. Seeing likely corollaries —“if/then” at its root—they could look ahead and conclude what might occur in the future. Inequities and iniquities would bring on “punishment.” Idolatry—including the sexually pleasurable worship of pagan gods and goddesses—would also weaken societyMORE...

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October 9, 2023

Unprecedented?

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Soul Searchings, Words

October 9, 2023

2 Min Read

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09October

  Already an overused buzzword, unprecedented is a convenient adjective that we might use to describe some action or event that we think has never occurred. By its use, we admit our lack of knowledge about X or Y – or the individuals responsible for X or Y. “How could I have known about X or Y,” we might ask. “This hasn’t ever happened.” Hold on, though. Most of us have likely lived throughMORE...

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October 2, 2023

Perseveration begone!

By Bob Sitze

In Personal Power, Relationships, Words

October 2, 2023

2 Min Read

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02October

One of my emerging personality traits is beginning to bother me: My tendency to repeat beloved personal stories to people who’ve most likely heard those tales before. Right now, this behavior might be only an occasional vexation, but it might also lead me inexorably towards perseveration—the tendency toward repeated actions, utterance or thought patterns without apparent stimulus. Granted, atMORE...

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September 28, 2023

Dear one

By Bob Sitze

In Mind/Body, Relationships, Words

September 28, 2023

2 Min Read

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28September

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...

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September 25, 2023

Ranting (and raving)

By Bob Sitze

In Arcania, Lifestyle, Personal Power, Relationships, Soul Searchings, Words

September 25, 2023

2 Min Read

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25September

One of the occasional hobbies of older gentlemen such as myself is the questionably pleasurable practice of ranting. From its local particulars—“Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!”—to its generalized condemnations—“They’re crooks, all of them!”—ranting might seem to be a tolerable way of passing time in impolite company. High-level ranting requires adroit word-finding skills and physical posturingMORE...

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