A young woman, despite suffering from anxiety and clinical depression, found herself in a caring, loving relationship. She admitted she never thought she would find someone as loving and generous as her current partner. However, she was riddled with guilt about the difficulties he faced dealing with her frequent afflictions. “I am not good enough …
“It’s So Counterintuitive!” she said. “Yes, it is.” I affirmed. The young woman calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline suffered from sporadic, chronic, gastrointestinal pain. She thought she might have eaten something the prior weekend that aggravated the condition. As a result, she was in great pain. I asked if she would be willing to …
Note: This piece will be published in the September/October issue of Neighbors of Batavia Magazine. I recently learned a valuable, touching lesson from a man with aphasia. It’s a condition that makes communication difficult and afflicts two million people in the United States. I have published eighty-eight essays for this page in Neighbors of Batavia …
“You’re on this earth for a reason. Life is not a right that comes bearing a right, which is the right of getting. Your life is a gift, and it came bearing a gift, which is the freedom and the art of giving. It is such a joyous way of being.” Is it just me, …
In 1968, as a junior at Muskegon Catholic Central High School, the priest I had for religion class changed my life. I discovered yesterday he is ill, so I drafted the following to send to him today. Dear Father LaGoe, Philosopher and educator, Neil Postman once wrote “Children are the living messages we send to …
I have used the phrase “This time matters” frequently in the time of COVID-19. When asked to introduce myself in groups, I say, “I’m Roger Breisch, Speaker Provocateur.” Then, I pause and declare with resolve “This. Time. Matters.” Looking around, I see many nods of recognition and affirmation. But I didn’t realize how much this …
I am fascinated how often people battered by life, acknowledge that, despite the harshness of the journey, it bore gifts they hope never to relinquish. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years ago, but it’s severity, and need to deal with it, only became clear in early 2019. In the months since the …
When grace enters my life unexpectedly, the moment often becomes a font of knowledge and wisdom. Operation Snowball is an organization for high school students who want to live healthy lives by keeping an informed and respectable distance between themselves and drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Twice each year a three-day retreat is convened for a …
There are Universes in our midst, but assumptions can prevent us from experiencing their extraordinary wisdom, beauty, and elegance. What number would you multiply by itself to arrive at -1? Early mathematicians assumed such a number was useless. They referred to it in a derogatory way as imaginary. In the 18th century, mathematicians relinquished that …
One Christmas afternoon many years ago, I answered a call on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) from a young man in middle school. Through oceans of tears he told me how he and his father argued almost constantly. All he wanted to know was whether his father loved him. It broke my heart. We …