Musings

I was in Dothan for a wedding. That’s Dothan, AL, not the Biblical one. The rehearsal dinner and the wedding reception took place in an event venue that used to be the Covington Planter Company factory. As I sat in what used to be a manufacturing facility eating wedding cake, I was struck by the way people…

The right to vote is significant because it allows each of us to participate in deciding what the future we will live in will be like. The accumulation of votes decides who will represent us and, often, how the issues that define our society are determined. While some may argue that a single vote doesn’t…

During the Global Leadership Summit this past week, there was an interview with Dallas Jenkins, the creator and director of “The Chosen.” He made an interesting observation about the story in the Bible of the feeding of the 5,000.  In the story, Jesus is teaching a large gathering of people in a remote place. When evening…

Last week, I was hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Each year I have the privilege of spending a week in a national park with a group of CEOs that I count as some of my best friends. We hike, talk, listen, and give each other honest and frank feedback. Having a dozen…

I was looking through old photos recently and came across a picture of my grandfather on my father’s side. It is very obvious I am his descendant. That is genetics. I never met him as he died right before my father was born, but I look like him. We inherit physical attributes from our parents…

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…