Tomorrow morning you will begin a chapter in your life beyond my understanding. I could not be more proud—more in awe—than I am. You have worked diligently to arrive at this moment, and in that journey I have witnessed in you a sense of purpose, dedication and joy, the depths of which astound me. …
The Price We Pay for Love
Today, as I begin the second year of my seventh decade—with kind and generous missives filling my microscopic corner of Cyberspace—I struggle to understand the clash of gratitude and sadness with which I sit. A few hours ago, Judi and I left “Charm City”, the place our daughter has taken up residence for two …
To Serve & Protect
I have been reading Choosing Gratitude: Learning to Love the Life You Have, a wonderful new book by a favorite author, James Autry. He penned an essay entitled “To Serve & Protect” in which he speaks of the difficulties of the honorable profession of being a police officer. In my work related to suicide prevention …
More Than Words Can Ever Express
“Truth never happens in real time.” Those are the first few words in the book “Sacrament of Fear” written by an old friend, Will Dresser. The moment I read them, they captured a profundity I did not completely understand. Perhaps I do now, if even just a little. On July 28, I …
How Are You Doing?
Note: This article will appear in the September-October issue of Neighbors of Batavia magazine. How are you doing? Before you answer, think carefully…there might be more at stake than you think. I might be wrong, but there is a good chance your immediate response would have been to a question other than the …
Can We Talk?
Too often, that which has the capacity to make our lives most fulfilling leaves us precisely when we need it most. I was reminded recently that in any two-person conversation, at least six personalities show up. On your end are two versions of you: (P1) the real you—the person you are in that place of …
A Tribute to a Beloved Teacher
I was a newly-minted MBA moving from an entry-level position to a job selling catalysts in the oil industry. The sales manager, Jim Trecek, arranged for me to spend a week under the tutelage of a renowned salesman in Toronto. His name was Pat McLaughlin. I arrived at the Toronto airport before Pat, and …
Has Knowledge Blinded Us to Wisdom?
If I am open to the road less traveled, life lies in wait to take me on extraordinary journeys. A recent such escapade began in the most unlikely of places—with an obscure comment in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. Isaacson mentions, in passing, a book Jobs reportedly reread every year. It wasn’t a …
Beyond the finite…to the Infinite
As I reflect on the human journey, today is the eve of the most holy of holy days on the Christian calendar. I am informed, and confused, by words attributed to Jesus as he neared death: “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” In this moment, I …