Two significant pieces of relationship advice from radio friend Dr. Laura and one from our own Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher — Choose wisely Treat kindly Be attentive — apply as needed by both.

For you as Ash Wednesday arrives. May the ashes that will lead us into Lent be an invocation, an invitation. So many blessings to you, beloveds, as the new season unfolds. THE WAY THAT ASHES KNOWA Blessing for Ash Wednesday…

COPIED, yup, again; I appreciate this that much —- Picked out a cake at Meijer. Asked a bakery-looking employee if she could write on it for me. She said she would, and after a long time, she came and presented…

Been sitting with this a while. You and I’ve seen someone like this.You and I know someone like this. Christ Jesus said quite a bit about him in Matthew 25:31-46. What have we done? What will we do next time…

Leonard Sweet is well-represented on my shelves and in my head and heart, precisely for what lies behind things like this from my notebook — Religion can be a stick . . . . a walking stick for the Jesus…

With gratitude to Fred Bishop — Abraham built altars of stones in Genesis 12-14 Stones in our lives: Throw the stones– hurt others Internalize the stones– get ulcers Build an altar and offer the (stones) situation to God, like Abraham

All of the following comes from Tom Hinzman via real life friend from oh a few decades ago named Dorita Smith Head and it comes with a warning from me of what we used to call “conviction” — Jim Cymbala…

I was blindsided when a reminder appeared online of a friend’s birthday. We’d met at work. We resonated. We became friends. We worked on projects together. We became better friends. We weathered storms with each other. We let situations get…

Ryan Holiday, the author of 15 books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, Conspiracy and Stillness is the Key, calls himself a professional reader. “ That’s really what authors are. A book is…