Those who are my “friends” on Facebook already know this, but on Thursday I was diagnosed with H1N1, or the “Swine Flu”. For me, it has been, well… it has been the flu… and a pretty mild flu at that. I have had some deep chest congestion (but not nasal), … Read more →
Category Archives: Care Of The Soul
You Want to Join the Military? But We’re UU’s!!!
Over the last several years, I have had the privilege to be with several Unitarian Universalist families as they struggled through the complex emotions that arise around a loved one deciding to join the military. Recently, some ministers have even referred such families to me, and I thought it would … Read more →
Celebrating my “Staycation”
During the months of July and August I have been on “Staycation”, and I have decided that I love it! Unlike the many vacations I have taken in my life, I actually feel refreshed and recharged at the end of these 8 weeks. Usually after a vacation, I feel tired … Read more →
Returning Home, Warriorship, and the Society for Creative Anachronism
The morning after I came home from serving as a Peacekeeper in Bosnia, a friend knocked on my door at some early hour. I wanted to sleep in, but he had another plan. There was something we absolutely had to go do, something he had become involved in that he … Read more →
The Iron Law of Human Self-Interest
In 1994 I was injured in a training accident in the U.S. Army. I fell out of a helicopter simulator during fast-rope training and broke my tailbone. For a little over a week I was bedridden, unable to sit and in deep pain when I walked. One of my fellow … Read more →
Self-Forgiveness and Zazen
For Christmas this year, my wife and I took a trip back to the closest thing I have to a hometown, Knoxville Tennessee. It was good to see my mother, and to visit some places that have deep meaning for me. We then went on to spend Christmas Eve and … Read more →
Combat Medical Ministry Course
The past two weeks, I have been at Ft. Sam Houston outside San Antonio for the Combat Medical Ministry Course. It was an incredible experience, which “reframed” my experience in Clinical Pastoral Education (hospital chaplaincy internship) in light of a military environment, and challenged me to use the self-reflective skills … Read more →
What is your Order of Values?
A minister colleague and mentor of mine once told me to pay more attention to what people do, and less to what they say they value; that if you pay close attention to someone, their actions will tell you their lived values, even as their mouths express different professed values. … Read more →
Back to the Well of Faith
I have an institution in my life in which I must have faith, but it is sometimes hard to hold on to. We all have such organizations in our lives, be they schools, churches, community action groups, and even our families. Those of you who know me personally can probably … Read more →
Changing Question 21
I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I want to thank and congratulate Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the decision to change the wording of the infamous “Question 21” on the Questionnaire for National Security Positions. For those of you not familiar with the military, this is the … Read more →
Time, Wounds, and Compassion
Does time heal all wounds?There are so many of these old adages around, we sometimes accept them without much thought. There always seems to be some truth to them, but in our desire for the world to be black and white, positive and negative, right and wrong, we say these … Read more →