Have you ever been peppered by the well-meaning “old adage” as a means of getting you out of the mulligrubs? Maybe you are enjoying your mulligrubs. Maybe you don’t want to be cheered just yet. Maybe there is a cathartic element to grumpiness that some eternally annoying optimists will never understand. So, I reworked some…
The Greybeard Chronicles: Yesterday, When I was King— or, There is No Time Like the Present
It is the habit—and the prerogative— of those of us with silver in our hair to reminisce, to rubberneck, to relish (and embellish) past heroics. I have not pastored a church since 1997. I have not suited up for a game of organized football since 1979. The further I get from the things I “used…
2-4-23-38-46: Numbers that shall live in infamy
2-4-23-38-46, Mega Ball 23. If your Mega Millions ticket sported that combination last night, please know that you are loathed and envied all across the Fruited Plains and from sea to shining sea. Of course, if you just won a world record jackpot, you aren’t reading this little blog. So, never mind. What a crazy…
God Bless the Lesser Lights: The Undistinguished, Unextinguished.
Lesser Lights | An Original Poem God bless the lesser lights: Those lives lived on a small scale; Those names that never lit a neon sign, Nor graced a magazine cover, But are forever etched in stone— In mostly-neglected, weed-strewn tombstone; Whose memory is faded, even to those that loved them. Their time here…
An Old Preacher’s Admonition: Please, Quit!
Years ago, when I was a young pastor in California, some well-meaning chowderhead gave me a book titled, Dear Preacher, Please Quit! (If you were that chowderhead, I apologize…for not telling you sooner.) The book’s author was no Rhodes’ scholar. Nor was he much of a theologian. Nor was he a writer. His name was…
The Greybeard Chronicles: Why I said nothing at the moment of truth
What will you do when standing up means standing out? It is easy to talk tough until it is tough to talk. Everybody is ready to do something until something must be done. The reason we revere the founders of America is because they pledged everything– their lives, their lands, their liberties– for a cause…
The GreyBeard Chronicles: “Do I Disappoint You, God?”
I was speaking with a Christian friend yesterday. She said, “I think I am such a disappointment to God.” To this, I replied, “No, you are not.” It is, I believe, impossible to disappoint God. We may displease Him, but we cannot disappoint Him. Disappointment is born of unfulfilled expectations. We anticipate a certain day…