Writing this in the midst of the nasty and passionate general election season, I remember my political coming of age of 12 years ago-or perhaps it is better described as a political balancing act. I was extremely naïve as a young person and a college student, seeing society, politics, government, social needs, and so forth through a narrow prism, colored and shaped by limited exposure to homogeneous reading material and editorialists in the flesh and in the press.
Don’t settle for mere existence—embrace the grace of the story you’ve been given to live. Strive to see that all you do is integrated and balanced into a cohesive, intentional whole, but along the way don’t forget to be relaxed about it.
Strep throat was consuming my health, my awareness, my movements. Yet, the actor in me knew the show must go on.
Each breaking dawn demands of us the tasks we must accomplish, the problems we must solve, the relationships we must manage. We need not proactively fill our calendars with many meetings, appointments and errands—life will happily and often subconsciously do so for us.
About a decade ago I published a newspaper column declaring my universal disdain for running. It hurt my shins, I bemoaned. It made me itchy, I groused.
We have a creeping tendency to live within the prison of our “shoulds” and “oughts.” Disappointment in decisions we have made, or results left by the hand of fate–often shaded by our own misperceptions–can plague us and engender a vicious cycle of regret.
Growing up in the Daytona Beach, Florida area, the ocean was always nearby. It was a place to clear my head, to refocus, to dream again.
The Gospel of Mark, Chapter 12:38-44, tells the story of Jesus observing the gift offered by a poor widow who enters the Temple in the midst of all the other would-be worshippers.
Life can leave us fragmented and without cohesion. Society often has communicated a not-so-subtle message that we have multiple selves; there’s the self we are at home, the self we are at work, the self we are with friends, the self we are at the gym, and even the self we are at church, the temple, the mosque, and so forth.
“The mission of the Central Florida YMCA is to improve the lives of everyone in Central Florida by connecting individuals and families with opportunities based on Christian values that improve the spirit, mind and body,” says executive director Chris Jaffe. “Our goal is to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities.”