Posts by Thomas Hill III

Have you ever experienced a miracle? I have. Noah Benshea wrote, “A miracle is often the willingness to see the common in an uncommon way.” I see miracles every day. I agree with Walt Whitman who wrote “Miracles” when he says, “Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me I, know of nothing else…

The existential crisis of our social development is that we are formed into a certain kind of being by everything we see, hear, do, and have done to us. We are not born with knowledge or experience. We gather these things by living in community. The communities we spend time in significantly shape us as…

When I was a pre-teen, I made my first pyrotechnics. Using a chemistry set my parents gave me, some gunpowder from our ammo reloading supplies, and materials I mail-ordered from a chemical supply company, I made a firework shell and lift charge and set it off in the intersection next to our house. Unfortunately, I…

“…a permission slip to a better conversation.” Those words were spoken by a friend who is with the Catholic Charities of Oklahoma on a recent tour for SALLT graduates of the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine. They made me think about how we initially connect and then continue to maintain connections with people.  My friend was talking about his involvement in…

I saw the new Spider-verse movie recently. Stan Lee, through Spiderman, was responsible for making “with great power comes great responsibility” a household quote. However, the concept of a kid who is accidentally bequeathed superpowers through a radioactive spider bite having a duty to use that power for good is actually a very old and…

I saw the musical Hamilton recently and noticed some lines that made me think. General Washington says, “Even now, I lie awake knowing history has its eyes on me.” It is during the first act, and Washington is granting Hamilton his first command. He talks about all the mistakes he made early in his career, then he…

As summer approaches, so do blue skies filled with fluffy, white clouds. Clouds that weigh over a million pounds each! That’s right. Clouds are really heavy. However, the air below them is even heavier (actually, more dense). The molecular weight of a water molecule is less than the molecular weight of a nitrogen molecule or…

To hear my grandma talk about my grandad, you would think he was perfect. He was tragically killed as a passenger in a car that was hit by a train a few months before my father was born. When she spoke about him as I was growing up, she could have been talking about Superman.…

I flew Southwest Airlines recently. One of their mottos is “Don’t Make the Easy Hard” which seems to be exactly what they have done. Herb Keller knew that a valued employee would offer an extraordinary customer experience. Done well, this would ultimately result in the company and shareholders profiting. Somewhere along the line, they lost…

One of the things I learned in recovery was everyone has a role to play in our lives. We can have many friends, change therapists and sponsors, and even add extended family members through marriages and births. You cannot swap moms easily. The role of mother is unique and special. (So is the role of…