A year after I was born, my father was hired by Johnson Wax as a salesman, visiting grocery stores across Indiana, peddling his wares, mostly Raid bug spray and Pledge […]
Tag: music
Things We Got Just Right (Innovation over Tradition)
My phone rang not long ago. It was a Quaker calling from out-of-state, whom I had met several years ago at a conference. He called because their Quaker meeting was […]
Things We Got Just Right (The Triumph of Good)
Joan and I went on vacation this past week, meeting up with our son Sam and his family in Grand Lake, Colorado just outside the Rocky Mountain National Park, where […]
What in the World Were We Thinking? (Silence is Good for Everyone)
A friend phoned me recently, asking if he could borrow our Ford Flex. He didn’t say why he needed it, and I didn’t want to appear nosy, because if there’s […]
Cooperation, not Competition, as an Aspect of Community
I was being a curmudgeon the other day, talking with someone about how young people today don’t know anything about history, when it occurred to me that until I was […]
Quaker Qualities (Not Simplicity, but Generosity)
When I was 32 years old, I received a phone call from the Friends World Committee for Consultation, asking if I would serve on their Executive Committee. This was a […]
Finding Our Way (10)
VIEW VIDEO Last month, Frank Gladden, bemoaning the scarcity of rain, questioned whether I had any pull with the Lord. I said, “I don’t know. Why do you ask?” He […]
Finding Our Way (5)
I was looking at a replica of one of the earliest maps of North America not long ago and on that map, California appeared as an island. The first mention […]
Stuff I Want to Do Before I Croak: A Geezer’s Manifesto (10)
VIEW VIDEO The year I turned 21, the television show Cheers aired on NBC. I was working at Public Service Indiana and several of my co-workers wanted to take me […]