Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: common good

  • Prudence: Character Matters

    “It wouldn’t be prudent. Read my lips. No new taxes. A thousand points of light.”. If you are old enough to remember Saturday Night live in 1989, you can likely remember Dana Carvey’s impression of George Bush Senior. I can picture it. I haven’t heard anyone use the word prudent since then. Prudent. It is…

  • Character Matters

    Over the years, I have met some characters. I have definitely been accused of being a “character” and probably was guilty as charged. But this week, I have been training adults (my day job) and I have discovered an uncomfortable truth. Okay, discovered is dramatic. I noticed once again a pattern among humans. The Ancient…

  • I Too Am America

    When talking heads try to define what it means to be an American with their endless flag waving , fireworks, and angry cries; I calmly lift a steady gaze. With a firm voice, I say clearly, “I too am America.” My people were the first to walk these woodland trails until the trail turned to…

  • Character Matters: Educating For Sanity

    When we talk about “character,” we’re referring to the values and traits that guide how a person thinks, feels, and acts. It’s the compass people use to navigate relationships, challenges, and decisions in school, at home, and out in the world.  A person of strong character consistently chooses to do the right thing—even when it’s…

  • Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?: Educating for Sanity

    Peter 2:1: “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.” So much rancor in the world. So much unrest. There have always been people who say provocative things for notoriety, money, entertainment, influence, revenge, attention or because they are simply cantankerous. The point is to…

  • What I learned from TV Westerns

    I grew up watching Westerns. My grandparents fed me a steady diet of John Wayne and Gene Autry. But I loved the television series westerns like The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Bonanza, and the rifleman. In one hour, a community is faced with a crisis and then larger than life characters with outsized…

  • Educating for Sanity: Civility

    Civility: a concept that seems to be waning in the United States. From the Latin, the literal meaning is “as befitting a good citizen”. It carries connotations of professional, ethical, respectful and courteous behavior. Incivility, thus translates as behavior unbecoming of a citizen. It is behavior of the barbarians. Incivility runs the gamut of behaviors…

  • Educating for Sanity: Press For Freedom

    I have to admit that I am a compulsive reader. Each morning I try to consume articles from several newspapers on a variety of topics. I vary my sources both nationally and internationally. So I was surprised again and again, over the last seven or eight years, when many of my friends developed very strong…

  • Educating for Sanity: The Nation of Immigration

    So much discussion, attention, and emotion…. Immigration talk has flooded our media sources, emerging as an American campaign issue in 2016 and again in 2024. Let’s move beyond the rhetoric and attempt to understand the topic more deeply, starting with basic definitions. An immigrant is someone who moves permanently to live and work in a…

  • My Toes Are Cold

    As I sit and watch the snow outside my window, my toes are cold. But my coffee is warm. I have central heating in my house and a blanket on the arm of my chair. My toes are cold, but they don’t have to be. Down the hall, I have a warm bed which I…