Rich’s Ride – Page 6

Old Habits

I’m falling back into an old bad habit. There’s no doubt – we’re surrounded right now by negativity. COVID, political divisions, racial tension. Add the work we do with human trafficking, the constant awareness of evil and injustice – it’s sort of taken over my awareness. I’ve surrendered my agency, allowed this sense of foreboding […]

“Holiday”

It’s not really an anniversary or a holiday, but December 5 is always sort of circled on my calendar. I call it Falling Day because on December 5, 1987, I fell 9 feet and my life changed. Falling Day used to be an occasion for sadness and regret. I’d kind of try to ignore it, […]

An Odd Waiting

Back from the road trip, and now it’s Advent. A season of waiting for Jesus – when He’s already here. It’s an odd sort of waiting. I’m working through Giving A Year Meaning by my friend Jon Swanson. He reminds us that Advent is more about preparing, slowing, remembering. For some, especially this year, it […]

Thank You

It’s the week for Thank You. Becky and I will be traveling on the big day. No feast. No football. Just us, the road, and whatever fast food is available. No Thanksgiving, I guess. Or maybe it’s not about a holiday. President Lincoln proclaimed the first National Day Of Thanksgiving in 1863. Immersed in the […]

How To Follow A Dream (4)

No matter what dream we’re following, there’s one absolutely essential ingredient. It’s good to follow with Grace and Faith and Humility. They’ll help us be calmer, have better connections, stay on track. But one ingredient makes the difference between success and failure. Hope Viktor Frankel was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived the horrors of Auschwitz […]

How To Follow A Dream (3)

Following the dream doesn’t happen by accident. We’ve already talked about Grace and Faith. Humility In a culture of selfies and Tik Tok and “Look at me!” – following the dream works better with, “there you are.” Please don’t turn this into some sort of legalistic “Never talk about yourself or your accomplishments” or “Never […]

How To Follow A Dream (2)

Let’s continue our conversation. Part 1 (Faith) here. Grace We’re gonna mess up, make mistakes. Others we meet along the journey will mess up as well. Decide in advance to default toward grace. Decide we’ll give others, and ourselves, the benefit of the doubt. Take the energy we invest in judgment and snarkiness – invest […]

How To Follow A Dream

Last time I talked about selfies. It’s not about pictures, of course. I love seeing and showing you what my friends are up to. It’s really about attention-seeking in a culture in which people become famous (and wealthy) simply for being famous. Jesus said we should let our light shine before others. As we follow […]

Correct Words And Hearts

Words matter. They matter a lot in school. Even in math classes, I tried to impress on students the importance of using words correctly while avoiding excessive sarcasm and trying not to become the frumpy grammar police. For example, they insisted supposably was a real word when they meant supposedly. They also used irregardless rather […]

Rider’s Block

I think I have a case of rider’s block – no, not a typo. You’ve heard about writer’s block. A writer is all ready to write, wants to write, has all the necessary tools to write—but the words won’t come. There’s just no inspiration. Most professional writers will tell you there’s no such thing. “Writer’s […]

Ten Years Later

Ten years later (9/11/2011) Becky and I stood at the dawn of a dream. The next morning, we met some friends at Lake Itasca. The 1500-mile Mississippi River journey began. When you tell a story like this, after it’s happened, it takes on sort of an “inevitable” quality. In fact, we were woefully under-prepared for […]

Where Were You?

Like nearly everyone else, I remember where I was. No compelling story. No personal connection to the towers or planes. Just a Tuesday with kids in Room 5. More than where, though, I recall the feeling of helplessness as I learned the horrific details. An old wheelchair guy couldn’t rush out and enlist, couldn’t go […]

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