Musings

Yes, it’s Aerosmith’s third studio album, but it’s also a euphemism for insanity or being crazy. Let’s back up. We (my wife and I) spent a good part of the holidays cleaning out the garage and attic. This was not the way I had imagined spending the break, but life rarely matches what I imagine…

This is the Rayleigh drag equation, or the drag force relationship. It is one of the fundamental relationships in fluid dynamics and appears in virtually every aerospace, automotive, and marine engineering textbook. The critical part of the equation is the “v²”. The force required to move through a fluid increases exponentially with velocity. In other…

I used to run a lot. Not just often, but far (like 100 miles far). We called ourselves the Pirana Brothers (shout out to Doug & Dinsdale, and Spiny Norman) and we ran 200-mile relays with only four runners, hosted and ran 100-mile races, and did lots of other crazy things. On really long runs,…

John 1:14 tells us: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Among us. Not above us. Not distant. Among us. When God wanted to save humanity, He didn’t send a policy manual from heaven. He didn’t issue performance standards and wait to see who could meet them. He didn’t build a perfect…

I was through security and on my way to the gate when I got the notification—my flight was delayed due to weather at my connecting city. Never mind having to get to the airport significantly before departure to negotiate security and all that; delays can make an already long and frustrating day of travel even…

Our family has observed Advent ever since our children were small. We gather with friends for a devotion and a meal and enjoy the season together. When the kids were small, we did crafts and the devotion was simple. Now the “kids” lead the devotion, and we mostly sit around and talk. The story of…

Recently, I was reading Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. In one of the letters, she talked about tackling “the [expletive] out of love.” Not tiptoeing. Not being careful. Not hedging your bets. Just going all in with no safety net. That sentence has stayed with me.  A religious scholar once asked Jesus what mattered most.…

I love that the “holiday season” starts with Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday (Fourth of July is a very close second). I am blessed to receive an email devotional from Starla Shattler, and her first posting in November suggested that it should be Thanksgiving Month. I agree. If we can expand Christmas (thanks mostly to marketing),…

Narcissus, a handsome young man from Greek mythology, was renowned for his striking beauty, but he rejected all who pursued him. As punishment for his cruel rejection of others (especially the nymph Echo), the goddess Nemesis led him to a pool of water where he fell in love with his own reflection. Unable to embrace…

I recently got to sit in the front row at a Thunder game, right next to the bench. Someone’s generosity put me close enough to hear everything the players and coaches were saying, and honestly, it was incredible. During those highlight-reel moments when the crowd went absolutely wild, I could hear the players calling out…