Sugar

I’ve noticed…the more sugar I eat, the more sugar I want to eat.

…literally, and metaphorically.

Your Perception of God

Is God present in our world today? 

Of course, this can't really be proven (especially with man-made instrumentation).  Like it or not, we're really down to our perception of God's presence then, aren't we?

So, what impacts your perception of God's presence in the world the most?

A recent experience mountain-top experience of the beauty and magnitude of nature?

An encounter somewhere along your journey with the devastation that humanity brings on itself and its surroundings?

Intimate relationships that perpetuate the ideals of love?

The damage you’ve seen or experienced from someone or something?

In other words, is it the height of your experience with beauty and joy or the depth of it with depravity and despair?

What would you add to the list…or to the question?

Don’t Match The Energy

3 Observations & A Question

All they need is enough, it doesn’t even have to be a majority — just enough. 

If you don’t want to say it now, it only gets harder to say it later.

It is far more effective to work on yourself, than on somebody else.

Do you know much you can take? — how do you know?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Authoritarianism, Con’t

Authoritarianism:

The law cracks down on protesters and librarians, but shields corrupt officials and violent allies.

Disagreeing with power is called betrayal.  But those who lie to protect it are promoted.

Distracts, distorts, and divides, so no one notices what people in power are actually doing.

-- Sharon McMahon

Mesmerized

We often seem mesmerized by the marvels of technology.

Perhaps, as a species, we always have been, which if so may signal that much of what is seemingly new isn't...all that much.

Something about man-made technology seems to pull us away from the technology of the natural world.

I was on a walk early one morning and heard the blast of a train horn off in the distance. I remember having a feeling about it. It was cool. Cool, because of what it represented and the technology involved with building a device that can carry large weights and quantities of things over great distances. Cool, also, probably because of something nostalgic about it that struck a cord in me.

Meanwhile, birds were tweeting. Bullfrogs were belching. The leaves of trees were rustling all around me. There was nearly constant sound, multiple simultaneous sounds, as the world was waking up.

I read something recently that promoted the notion that you really have to look at something for more than a minute or two to actually see something. In other words, it’s not just staring at something, it is receiving what you’re seeing in a way that allows you to truly see what the image represents. In our scrolling-laden age, we look at millions of things and don’t really see very much of anything. We’re not, I suppose, really looking; contemplating what we're seeing, taking in their significance.

Whether listening or seeing, we’re missing so much of what is all around us, as we mesmerize ourselves with the latest man-made technology, largely fascinating, but not very enlightening.

And this, perhaps, is as much a function of the information itself. Not all information is of equal value. Some of it, just because it exists, is meaningless. It’s just there. It may be entertaining, but offers very little to life (not everything is 'life-changing', nor should it be). We seem to take great pride in our ability to process information when, in fact, we’re not really processing much of it at all, not to mention what of it is actually of any value to us.

This is likely why, time and again, distancing ourselves from the bright-and-shiny of technology, and returning to the basic environments, systems, and beauty of the natural world often reveal (not only the distinction) something more valuable to the core of who we are as human-beings.

What is Juneteenth and Why Does it Matter: A Short History

In Yourself

You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.

-- John Steinbeck

LT: What You Do, How You Do It

Talk all you want, but leadership comes down to what you do and the way you do it.

Where The Shoots Through

Ever noticed…on a wooded trail, the majority of flowers seem to be positioned exactly where light shoots through?

Guardian Angel or…?

Do you believe in guardian angels?

Perhaps, the question really is, do I?  

It's hard not to notice when a more serious consideration of the question is in play — like when you're in some kind of trouble.

I recently did a 14-er with Tami, our daughter, son-in-law, and 1 yr old grandson in Colorado.  I was not prepared, in a variety of ways, because of the last minute nature of the decision to do it.  But, I thought if they were all doing it, I'd probably be fine.

It was a beautiful day.  But the higher we got, the windier and colder it got.  Not only did I not have the right shoes, but I also only had a wind-breaker.  We usually are quite prepared for these kinds of thing, but not this time...including my hydration level from the day before, not to mention the elevation issues at this altitude.  You may know where this story is headed....

As most 14-ers do, this one required some effort, especially against the cold and wind.  While our grandson did great, at some point the elements were too much and they turned back.  Tami and I forged ahead.  We could see the summit and find such things, like a final push, the kind of challenge we are invariably grateful for (at the top anyway).

The higher we went, though, the more ground I was losing physically (and, perhaps, psychologically as the impacts of the cold and increasing effort set in).  We made it to top (see here).  But, I was worn down in more than one way.  I was shaking from the cold and losing some mental capacity.

After a few pics (where I had to try to smile), we headed back down.  Here's where things really got interesting.  I only had tennis shoes and they, on the melting snow, were more like skies than anything else.  I started to slip and fall. 

...dozens of times.  I made very little progress and now was not only tired and cold, but also quite wet.

And, psychologically, rather than staying above it, I was starting to go...under.

Due to the melting, the snow path was less clear and increasingly I was sinking down to my knees in the depth of it.  My shoes were now soaked and I was having trouble pulling myself up.  In spite of Tami's active encouragement to keep going, Why am I doing this? was climbing over and sucking on my mind and I was sinking in more ways than one.  Looking back, I was probably in more trouble than I realized.

A couple of other hikers noticed my struggle and came over to offer assistance.  Slightly chagrinned, I accepted as they helped support my physical decline and guided me towards less challenging areas.  One in particular, Caden (see above), literally bent down to pick me up and hold me until I could go on.  He walked with us a ways further.  After we got past the tree line, he let me use his shoulder to take the big steps down the rocky trail.  He stepped into several muddy parts to provide more support for me.  In fact, he walked us (me) literally all the back to our car.

I marveled at his willingness to not do whatever he would have done if we weren't helping me.  We talked quite a bit (due to my slow, knee-pained pace) and learned a lot of his life-story (which was amazing in many ways...not unlike any of ours).  At one point, when I understood more of who he saw himself to be ("this is what I'm here for", he explained, "to help people"), I wondered about the timing of it all and how this circumstance could be much more than just a physical one (out of my sense of need, it felt like a spiritual one, too).  In describing the story to someone else, their response was that Cayden was a 'God-send'.

Though I have come to doubt such attributions more than I used to (a story for another day), I felt an accuracy about the attribution.  A guardian angel?  Maybe.

I have to admit I don't know much about the angelic realm — how often or how much it intervenes in ours.  But, I know that many people have believed in it across the spans of time.  And, I have never succeeded bifurcating the blend of both.  I have a latent degree of confidence that many unexplainable things are just that, unexplainable and that that does not eliminate the real possibility of multiple kinds of reality.

As time passes from the event, my rational mind imports more explanations.  Nonetheless, the circumstances point to something beyond where rationality seems to fall short, especially (and conspicuously) in times of need.

Do you believe in guardian angels?  When?  Why?

3 Observations & A Question

The more you do something, the more understand it.

We often pray for relief when, perhaps, what we should be praying more about is the contribution we’re making to our need of relief. 

It’s a shame if your perspective of the world is limited by your lack of experience of the world.

What keeps you on your toes?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

The Parade

-- Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American

We have no kings here, we have no queens here, we have no emperors, we have no dictators, we have no despots, and we have no serfs and no slaves and no subjects, and none of us is a subject to Donald Trump. None of us is a subject to Mike Johnson. We are all citizens, those of us who aspire and attain to public office are nothing but the servants of the people. And the minute that somebody in public office thinks that they're a king, they're a queen, they're an emperor, they're a dictator, that is time for the people to evict, eject, reject, impeach, try, convict, and start all over again, because the most important words of our Constitution are the three first words of the Constitution: ‘We the people.’

-- Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a constitutional scholar

Dad and Ron

From Michiana Chronicles: 

2025 has been a year of seismic shifts. The loss of two men I greatly loved, admired, and respected seemed to punctuate those changes for me. 

At the beginning of February, my childhood pastor, Ron Kennel, died. By the end of the month, my dad, Joe Krabill, was also gone. Ron was 81. Dad was 94, a little over two weeks away from celebrating his 95th birthday. When I was about two months old... continue here.

-- Tony Krabill

Another wonderful consideration on being a Dad: 

I'm taking piano lessons with my son

President of the United States: "Animals"?

Try as we may, we just can't avoid the escalating drama in our federal government.  This, in part, is due to what appears to be the intention — to create that drama.  Both by rhetoric and show of physical force, trying to ignore it is no longer an option.

Unbelievably, the President of the United States is making wholesale references to American citizens who protest as 'animals':

Trump calls L.A. protesters ‘animals,’ ‘foreign enemy’ in speech to recognize anniversary of the U.S. Army

The use of this term, in this context, is an overt attempt to pit those referred to against what would otherwise be the case. In other words, to describe human beings as animals is overtly dehumanizing.  Trump must think that doing so is effective – that it will garner something in the audience (as it has in the past by other leaders with a lust for power).

Further, and against that backdrop, it appears that anyone who protests (not just in LA) will be subject to "...very big force":

If there’s any protester wants to come out, they will be met with very big force…. For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.

-- Donald Trump

We didn't seem to take him seriously the first time around; will we now (maybe, we finally are)?  ...more facts / less theatre (a parade?!?) here and here.

Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived. He’s taking a wrecking ball…to our founding fathers’ historic project: three coequal branches of independent government.

I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear. But I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment.  Do not give in to him.

-- Gavin Newsom

The correct way to connect the authoritarian presence in LA and the Big Beautiful Bill is that the bill gives the government the resources to do this in dozens of cities at once. So if you don't like what's happening in LA, it's coming to your town if the bill passes.

-- David Dayen, The American Prospect

Reclaim Large Areas of Peace

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty; to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves.

-- Etty Hillesum

While enduring the horrors of a concentration camp in 1943, Dutch author Etty Hillesum wrote these profound words in her diary. As she ruminated on the vital importance of remaining present in each day and banishing the worries of tomorrow from her spirit, Hillesum realized that the only thing we have control over is our own minds. If we can find peace within, we can make a difference in the lives of those around us.

Narrative

If you want to understand someone, figure out the narrative they tell themselves about themself.

If you want to change your behavior, change your narrative.

If you want to change someone else’s behavior, offer them a more compelling narrative they can tell themselves.

-- Shane Parrish

Nature of Change

I’m wondering…about the real nature of change in the world.

It seems we tend to largely think about change through a technological lens.  Certainly, technology has introduced some significant changes over the course of human history.

But, when you think about the nature of real change throughout human history, it seems that technology is more like a participant in something more significant.  Real change seems to dwell in the hearts of human-beings collectively (and individually).

We Can Become

Be careful not to dehumanize those you disagree with. In our self-righteousness, we can become the very things we criticize others…and not even know it.

-- Eugene Cho

4 Observations (from Others)

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

-- Viktor Frankl

Comfort can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor, but also a ceiling.

-- Trevor Noah

Action absorbs anxiety. Do Something.

-- Dan Harris 

The measure of a person is the congruence between their words and actions, their kindness, their confidence, and their decisiveness about who they are in the world and who they intend to remain. 

-- Peter Cundill

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

On The Lighter Side: Time To Retire?

 On the Lighter Side:

Awareness

How aware are we?

It doesn’t take much observation to recognize that there’s a lot going on in life and in the world that we know very little (or nothing) about.  And, this may or may not necessarily be an indictment. We are creatures of our surroundings and, by implication, that means that whatever we’re not surrounded by likely will not impose itself on us very deeply.

For example, this observation should terrify most people. It also seems quite clear that most Republicans right now would scoff at it. And, the most likely reason is that most of these same people do not feel any impact from it, because their surroundings are relatively untouched by it. But, for those are more than touched by it, there is a pervasive sense of fear about it that dominates their lives.

We are in Colorado today visiting one of our kids and her family, for their one-year old’s birthday. And, like we were at that point in our lives, they are immersed in the surroundings of young family life (as they should be), perhaps without a ton of awareness of the kinds of things referenced in the observation above (probably good for them right now anyway). A baby’s awareness is highly focused at the beginning of their lives and expands as they grow and mature.  Their surroundings impact it a lot.  It is quite fascinating to watch this process in our 5 grandkids, each at different ages, contexts, and temperaments, even as doing so causes us to reflect on that of our own kids.

It seems important to recognize that awareness development doesn’t (or shouldn’t) stop once we arrive at adulthood.  It needs to continue, in order to cope with the world in a healthy way.  When it doesn’t, we can easily see all around us the susceptibilities that leak into the mix (not to mention the consequences).

My wife and I are at a different points in our lives now than where we were when we were younger with our own young family.  Accordingly, we have different kinds of bandwidths, than what our kids do at the moment, which allows us to maintain awareness of things like the above.  Even with more bandwidth now for certain things, our awareness is still quite limited, mostly by what our means allow us to experience (and not).  Unlike some people, we don’t have certain fears because of our position and resources in life.  And, we don’t have certain burdens for the same reasons.

By general disposition (personality, etc.), people seem to be more aware of certain things and less on other things. I feel more aware certain things, because of my nature and what I work on in my life, than my wife. Likewise, She also has more awareness of certain things than I do.

But, at some point, our lack of awareness is an issue, both interpersonally and with regard to the systems that impact our lives.  For example, we all have a sense that America is changing.  The question is in what ways and for what reasons.  Just hoping for the good ole’ days, isn’t awareness (in many cases, it’s actually closer to naïveté).  There are forces of self-interest and power that are heavily in play right now (whether we are aware of them or not), which require other forces to countermand them or they will prevail to significant effect for everyone.  When that happens, we will become truly aware of what has changed and how it actually does impact the surroundings of our lives.

At whatever point we happen to be in the courses of our existence, awareness is a valuable means of understanding the nature of that existence — not only for ourselves, but also for those whose surroundings (experiences), at any given moment, are different than ours.  

To that end, we have both an opportunity and an obligation to become increasingly…aware.

Inside Out

Change — real change — come from the inside out.

-- Stephen Covey

Our Best Interest At Heart

Trust is a biological reaction to the belief that someone has our best interest at heart.

-- Simon Sinek

How I'm Doing

I’ve noticed…that I have to get out of bed in the morning to more accurately assess how I'm doing.

Private Evacuation Plan

For many today, God is seen—and used—as a partner in our private evacuation plan more than any love encountered that transforms mind or liberates heart. This is revealed in the little, if any, concern that many Christians show for justice, the earth, or the poor. The fruits of love are often not apparent in them, and not even of much interest to many of them. 

 -- Richard Rohr