Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
It is easy to be grateful for the good things that come to us. But can we be like Job, who says in the midst of his losses: “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!” Of course the answer is no. When life … Continue reading Gratitude (by Joe Nagy)
On Grand Avenue, not far from where we live, there is a bluff from which you can see a wide swath of Puget Sound, from Admiralty Inlet across to Whidbey Island, then beyond to the Olympic Mountain range. You can stand on the very spot where in 1793 Captain Vancouver stood and examined his vessel, the HMS Discovery, in the harbor. It was, is … Continue reading Farewell to a Seagull
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I am reminded by this passage of the necessity of regularly drinking from the wellspring that stirs my soul and fills my life with happiness, beauty, joy. I am constantly … Continue reading A Visit to my Wellspring
“If we are going to use history for our pleasure and amusement, we must also use it for the education of the people; and if we are going to distort history to suit our own ends, we must remember that the truth will always come back to haunt us.” ~ W.E.B. Dubois One person who was haunted by the history of his time was President … Continue reading A Prayer For My Country
Recently, the song “Scarborough Fair” by Simon & Garfunkel suddenly appeared on my YouTube feed. I was feeling a bit down at the time, and it arrived as a much-needed lift. I closed my eyes, leaned my chair back, and took in the beautiful ballad. As I listened, a “golden moment” came to mind—one that my fraternity brother, Mark Pearson, surely remembers. It was 1968, … Continue reading Scarborough Fair: Revisited