Culture
In Service to Our Better Angels
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham’s recently released The Soul of America: the Battle for Our Better Angels is the source of conversation in pundit circles these days. For some, The Soul of America is a subtle critique of the Trump administration and its policies. For others, the book is a...
Clear The Path
A common relationship during the Roman Empire was that of a Patron with his Anteambulo. Often an artist, writer, or performer, the relationship consisted primarily of the Anteambulo fulfilling small tasks, delivering messages, or running errands in exchange for money, food, or favors. The literal definition of Anteambulo is ‘a...
Pa
Pa (Patrick) Lough is my new 90-year-old friend. He lives in Kincasslagh, a village of about 44 people, in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the place he has called home for 90 years. When we first met, Pa informed me that his people have lived in that area since 1732,...
Adventure
Originally published on August 19th, 2018 in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. Dear Son (or Daughter): The summer of 1974 was a pivotal moment in American history. The United States was one year away from exiting Vietnam. Watergate was coming to a close. For the first time in American history, a...
When There Is Something In The Water
North Platte, Nebraska, is the middle of nowhere. Actually, it exists in what I believe to be a beautiful part of our country, western Nebraska. Most people travel through North Platte on their way to Denver, Omaha, or Kansas City. In their haste to get to their destination, travelers...
Some Clarity About Clery
The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. Compliance is annually monitored by the United States Department of Education. I will be the first to point out the overreach by...
A Review of “Why Liberalism Failed”
One of the readers of my blog referred me to Patrick J. Deneen’s book, Why Liberalism Failed. He told me that it would be a difficult read, but that I needed to read it. He was right. It is a difficult read, and the other readers of this blog will...
An Approach To Servant Leadership
In 2004, three hurricanes hit Polk County Florida. I was in high school at the time and although three hurricanes in a single year was unusual, the practice of surviving and rebuilding after wasn’t unfamiliar. My amazing mother single-handedly raised my two brothers and me through some very lean times...
Windshield Time
I like to drive. Even more specifically, I like to drive my car without the radio on. In what I know is a sure sign of some shortcoming, I even pay for a Sirius satellite subscription—which I rarely use. When I was a much younger man attending theological seminary in...
“I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”
On April 5, 1968, I was getting ready for school when my mother came down the stairs to tell me that Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. We received this news the morning after he had been killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. There...
