She was quite serious when she looked me straight in the eyes and said, "You aren't our kind of people!" I had been minding my own business, as I waited for my flight to start boarding. The lady speaking was upset that I was standing in the line for priority boarding. She didn't believe me... Continue Reading →
Driving Saints into Invisibility
We were in the midst of a three week intensive class training missionaries. The day on group dynamics was almost finished, with everyone giving all the appropriate answers. Then a visitor appeared, a strong shift from the ordinary. He told us that he had taken the class in a previous year, his experience with the... Continue Reading →
Are you incubating a Cuckoo?
Cuckoos are one of the species that lays its eggs in other birds' nests. A non-Cuckoo incubates the Cuckoo egg. When the baby cuckoo hatches, it demands the lion’s share of the food. It also has a tendency to push out the other babies. As a result, the mother bird wastes her energy raising a... Continue Reading →
Grasping at boards as I fell
When I was around four, my father had a sailboat that he had started building while in Japan. Now, it was in dry dock in Berkeley in order to finish equipping the yacht. As he worked he let us play on the craft. It had no rails yet, so one time as my older brother,... Continue Reading →
The Opposite of Addiction
A National Public Radio (NPR) program reminded me of when I sat in my apartment feeling depressed. I was struggling with college courses, getting behind, and cutting myself off from my college friends because seeing them reminded me that I wasn’t getting the work done. Being cut off just put me into a deeper depression.... Continue Reading →
From Monster to Minister: A Journey for Peace
In the 7th grade, during an argument with one of the boys in my class, I was called a name, Little Monster, that stuck throughout junior and senior high schools. Every day, I endured the teasing and taunting that comes with being seen as unattractive among teenagers. As I walked the halls of the school... Continue Reading →
Refusing Healing
When I went through a divorce, I heard the Ex was saying that I was too controlling. I had to laugh. She controlled everything I did. I even couldn't change the rear view mirror on the car or the setting on the toaster. I chalked it up to her inability to be wrong. I could... Continue Reading →