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Teen Bride

Beauty caged

Felix Blackwell, Charles Millman and me.

There used to be a rock club in my town called the Stadium. They had some pretty good local bands and they weren’t shy about giving new bands a chance to play before a live audience. There were no seats, everyone just milled about wearing white so that they’d glow under the black lights. It was always a good time.

One night I was walking to the Stadium and two guys got off a bus. “Is thus the…

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A Rare Question, A Flight To Freedom, A Symbolic Ending

This past week there was a Mass said for Liz. It’s been six months since she passed away. Were they six short months or six long months? I can’t say for sure. She passed away on Valentine’s Day, which was also Ash Wednesday. I immediately recognized the sad poetry in her timing. We were together 49 years, Married for over 46 of them. We are the greatest of sweethearts. Valentine’s Day was…

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Dudley's Perch, Watching a Video, A Run in the Park

Dudley’s Perch, Watching a Video, A Run in the Park

My wife passed away on Valentine’s Day. We had been sitting together on our couch six days earlier. Spanky, our beloved Chihuahua wedged himself lengthwise between us and we rested our clasped hands on him. We were watching videos on YouTube when she straightened up suddenly. Her head tilted back and her eyes went dull. My first impulse was to call out to her. She didn’t respond. Seconds passed…

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Come Sit Beside Me

Come sit beside me. There’s so much I want to tell you. None of it is special. None of it is important. I just want to say it to you.

You’re the one I’ve always shared my thoughts with. And you always share your thoughts with me. Let’s do that now. Let’s talk. Let’s share the thoughts of two lovers. Come sit beside me.

Come sit beside me and hold my hand. Hold it like you always do. Our little…

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What's The Hurry (Part One)

What’s The Hurry (Part One)

“What’s the hurry? What’s the hurry? If you’re both born again Christians and love the Lord, if you’ve kept yourself sexually pure, If you have harmony with both sets of parents and they say okay, what’s the hurry? At least wait for the approval of authorities in your life. Besides your parents, how about your friends? How about your grandparents? Get your grandparents’ approval, would you…

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Nick Cave, Thoughts, Bill Gothard

Into My Arms

I don’t believe in an interventionist God But I know, darling, that you do But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him Not to intervene when it came to you Not to touch a hair on your head To leave you as you are And if He felt He had to direct you Then direct you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord Into my arms, O Lord Into my arms, O Lord Into my arms

And I don’t believe in the…

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Deckers, Kennedys, and The Glory of God

With Memorial Day upon us I find myself reflecting upon a Memorial Day the Decker/Olsen family had a few years ago. It was a fairly laid back day. There were some friends over, the family was together and we enjoyed the relaxed time we spent. It was the type of day I’m learning to love more than I ever had. I had often been told that grandchildren were special. They represented the culmination of…

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Moving Day

I’m moving this blog to http://www.Patreon.com/brokenthinking because that platform gives me an opportunity to use my blog to support the food pantry at my parish.

See you there, I hope.

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http://www.patreon.com/posts/9044803

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Choirs and The Family Business (Part Two)

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant When we left off in part one, it had become evident that the dad pastor had listened to untrue gossip and was determined to act upon it, even to the…

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Lent or Lost

I spent a lot of Wednesdays and Sundays in a church that really didn’t recognize Lent. The pastor preached instant forgiveness and promised that God could not even remember your sins once you confessed them mentally to Him. He preached about Lent, Confession, Penance, and other Catholic practices only to mock them. One day, he did that with Lent. He preached a mocking sermon on Lent that offended…

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Choirs, Churches, and The Family Business

Egypt, Churches, and The Family Business

I don’t want my wife to become a Catholic. Not, as in the Seinfeld episode, that there’s anything wrong with it. While she finds Catholicism to be meaningful and beautiful, she gets a personal fulfillment from another type of ecclesiastical community.

I’ve become a Catholic recently. But, that isn’t my heritage. My heritage, my lineage, is that of a Protestant. My mother was Protestant. My father…

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Shopping Carts, Taxes and Hip Replacements

With the possibility of the repeal and replacement for Obamacare, my Facebook timeline has been abuzz. One side calls for compassion to the poor, the other complains of higher premiums they blame on Obama. I can understand the desire to have a bit more money but I can’t understand valuing that money over the lives of the poor and marginalized.

Neither the Church nor our Lord calls us to value…

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Mt:18, Escaping a Cult, and Laughing it Off (Part Two)

Thanks for the great response and kind words from everyone. I just want to make it clear that while we left that management team in the rear view mirror many years ago, they have continued, more than a decade later, to be unable to turn their thoughts elsewhere. They just can’t quit us. This past week we have seen the son send a nasty private message to Liz on the Facebook, Then, man that he is,…

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Mt:18, Escaping a Cult, and Laughing it Off (Part One)

I once attended a church near my house that might more accurately be described as a cult.

My wife and I left it nearly twenty years ago and really have not given it much thought since. Although it was pretty much a clean break from our side, it proved to be a more difficult breakup from the viewpoint of the cult. For a number of years, they initiated attacks on us, most recently when one of them…

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