“Get ready!” It feels like I hear these words all the time in one form or another. We are approaching the terminal. Look in the area around your seat. The flight attendants are making their final pass through the cabin before landing. Be sure your seatbelt is securely fastened before take off. Anna will need…
A year ago I wrote about an experience that I had three decades earlier. It is an experience I visit again and again when I ponder what to do longer than I feel that I should. I am at a workshop and there is a major upset going on between two participants. They are standing…
When we get real with ourselves and tell the truth about what is going on, we are left with a dilemma from which many cower. We have to stare down our perceived powerlessness. So common is our “but who am I to do that?” that the question frequently does not even get vocalized. Our failures…
For a couple weeks I have been writing about truth-telling, the directness required to do so, and the vulnerability to examine one’s own motives in doing so. Accountability is a critical feature in truth-telling, and truth-telling is at the core of accountability. For a week my posts also examined an odd sort of victim playing that is…
As the many facets of the public health emergency in Flint, Michigan, continue to come to light, they reflect poorly on Governor Snyder and the increasingly common practice of government take-overs of municipalities, school districts, and other locally controlled functions from police departments to utilities. In the case of Governor Snyder, his reprehensible disregard for…
On Tuesday night people in Wisconsin and Michigan had opportunities to hear the art of obfuscation in the form of two State of the State addresses by Governors Walker and Snyder. Both had some heavy lifting to do related to their disastrous records in office. Though both of them created messes in office that will…
In what can perhaps be most kindly described as a bizarre television comedy, Strangers with Candy, Amy Sedaris plays Jerri Blank, a 46-year old ex-junkie who returns to high school. In one of the many hilarious episodes, two of her male teachers each has a sore on his lip. The ongoing gag line is, “It’s…
As I have been writing about truth-telling for the past week or so, I have included each day some comments about individuals and groups which represent themselves as somehow being victimized. Evangelicals feel victimized by Starbucks, insurers by the Affordable Care Act, gun manufacturers by background checks for purchases — each crying “foul” when they…
…many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. Free at last! Free at last! — Martin Luther King, Jr., August 1963 For the…
I have postponed this particular post for a couple of weeks to get some distance from the fever pitch of debates about it in December. But how can anyone really write about truth-telling without commenting on Christmas? Seriously, can we let go of The Elf? We all know the one to which I refer. Santa.…
Creating Community for Everyone 