Posted tagged ‘Life’

« Words from WW Blog home page
« Older Entries

Scrolling Down

May 3, 2026

      “Now if we died to Christ, we believe we will also live with him…For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:8, 14)

Scrolling is this thing these days. People scroll through their phones to find relevance, meaning, and something that raises eyebrows. 

Driving my two oldest grandkids around could be described as a conversation punctuated with bouts of scrolling. I’ll be having a conversation with one of them about the importance of being grounded in the faith, and suddenly, a seizure of scrolling invades our space. 

Scrolling to find out which of their friends has posted a selfie that does not have any beneficial value to society as a whole or any individual purpose. Scrolling as a new form of twitching. Scrolling as a way to avoid having a mundane moment. Scrolling is the younger generation’s version of daydreaming— a spontaneous moment of withdrawal. Be a senior citizen among three young scrollers, and you may begin to question your value.

Of course, I realize that a few readers of this blog scrolled down to it! The “whiner” about scrolling isn’t helping his case. I’m also guilty of scrolling down the programming guide on TV to see what’s on. If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have found out about the recent Outhouse Sledding Championships on ESPN. (Yes, that’s a real event!)

Truth be known, I’ve encountered scrolling in another way, a more humbling way. I’m now having to do a lot of “age-scrolling.” That is, I’m filling in information on my cell phone or laptop for a new physician, specialist, driver’s license renewal, insurance information, school certification renewal, workshop sign-up…need I go on! And when I’m asked my age, I have to scroll down…and down…and down. The longer I scroll down, the closer to the deathly bottom I get. The year 2000 disappears from the screen as I continue to go down. My first child’s birth year, 1981, rises past me, and there goes my high school graduation, 1972) and I’m still sinking deeper. Scrolling down is a way of putting me in my place— close to the end of the road— and reminding me of the fact that most people are above me…scrolling-wise.

My scrolls are clarifications of my mortality. It’s the harsh truth of our deteriorating bodies. My prescription bottles, aching hips, and suspect hearing are also teammates of the downward scrolling to my demise.

I take comfort in the hope of Romans 6, where Paul says, “Now if we died to Christ, we believe we will also live with him…For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:8,14)

When one of my students or athletes…or even one of my granddaughters reminds me of how old I am, I am now prone to reply, “Yes, only by the grace of God am I still scrolling down.” Confusion surfaces on their faces. 

I just smile. 

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Friends

April 25, 2026

WORDS FROM W.W.

“FRIENDS”

    “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:12-13)

There are friends, and there are acquaintances. In a time when the number of “friends” I have, according to my Facebook account, numbers four figures and a comma (#,###), friends have been falsely defined. We’ve come to believe that the more friends I have, the more important, and/or fulfilling, my life is.

But a friend is much more than someone who sends you a happy face or heart emoji. Here are a few thoughts on who a friend is:

-A friend stays with you even though he may be a thousand miles away.

-A friend weathers the storm with you and doesn’t allow you to be blown away.

-A friend is someone you may not have seen in person for twenty years, and yet when you see him, the conversation is as if there was a pause while one of you went to the restroom.

-A friend is someone who sits across the table from you and tells you the truth…sometimes amazing, but other times honestly brutal.

-A friend is someone who is not a carbon copy of you, someone who has his own opinions that are respected and valued, even when they seem a little warped.

-A friend is someone who is trustworthy; someone who holds the sacredness of the friendship as being profoundly more important than personal gain and prestige.

-A friend oozes with grace and hope, in contradiction to the culture’s rush to judgment and casting the wounded into darkness.

-A friend is someone you can share tears of pain with, but also tears that are brought on by the overflow of laughter.

In other words, a blessed person is someone who has a boatload of acquaintances, but a short list of true friends who could be called upon to be in the same life raft. 

A life raft! Huh! That might be the best metaphor. But you know that every one of those life raft friends, if it came to it, would give up their seat for you. That’s what a friend does. 

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Use Words

April 1, 2026

“Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.” (Proverbs 19:15)

Convenience is a big deal these days. Although my memory is suspect, I can’t think of a single invention in the past umpteen decades meant to slow the process of making, creating, or cooking something. By necessity, the latest-and-greatest has to be quick and painless, or it will be a bust.

How do you determine what is convenient versus what is laziness? That’s a toughie! I like my air fryer and microwave that cut cooking times dramatically. More than that, I like being able to buy an already-cooked meal at the store and heating it up for a minute. Is that convenience or laziness? Yes!

In recent times, with artificial intelligence, shortened to AI, so it doesn’t tax a person’s busy schedule or pronunciation deficiencies, the time it takes for a less-than-motivated student (who wants to get back to his video games) to write a school essay has dramatically dropped. He doesn’t even have to use words. AI does the “wording” for him.

A close friend of mine hates it when he sends a three-paragraph text filled with deep thoughts and compliments, only to get a thumbs-up emoji. I have to admit that I sometimes respond by sending him three to four emojis lined up in a row, just to irritate him (in a friendly way). His beef: Is it that hard to use words?

My beef: No wonder people can’t spell these days. Letters that form words are like a foreign language. For some people, it’s like learning Latin…and when you see how they spell words, you feel like you ARE reading Latin.

Laziness brings on future issues. In every area of our lives, there are fundamentals to learn. Like brushing my teeth so that some day in the future I don’t look like a cartoon character; or learning to add so I don’t stand before the register person at McDonald’s looking like a doofus because I couldn’t figure out that a Big Mac Meal plus a six-piece McNuggets cost more than the ten-dollar bill I’m holding. When you skip by the fundamentals and go directly to a nondescript thumbs-up emoji, you expose yourself to the crimes of apathy, sloth, and idiocy.

Bottom line: We tend to be in a hurry to avoid responsibilities and in no hurry to fulfill important courtesies. Can I get a thumbs-up followed by clapping hands?

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

The Sacredness of Boredom

March 12, 2026

“The Sacredness of Boredom”

He (God) says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 42:10)

I’ve noticed a trend among young people, possibly connected to their parents. Entertainment has become the new norm. That is, young people expect to be entertained…anytime they’re awake. I’ve even noticed it in school. There are more and more game apps that entertain while trying to educate. 

Being bored is considered taboo. It’s like telling a seventh-grader to sit down and write an essay on the history of dangling participles. Gagging might be the reaction. Boredom is frowned upon. Attention spans are shorter, resulting in a constantly shifting set of what keeps a person’s interest. Reading is too slow for many people (as well as for some slow readers). It doesn’t keep their attention because it demands focus for longer periods of time. When I was teaching 8th grade back in the fall, Fridays in Language Arts were Book Club day. Each student was part of a group reading a specific novel. What a struggle it was to keep many of them engaged in the novel. 

Perhaps that is one reason James Patterson’s novels are so popular. Each chapter is about two to three pages long. 

Reading scripture is even more challenging. There are no moving parts, no visual graphics. It is the story of God read to inspire and reveal, not to entertain.

Which brings us back to boredom. Being bored is a walk into sacred moments. If Jesus’s purpose centered on entertainment, the forty days in the wilderness would have been, as kids would say, “torture.” In essence, it was preparation and confirmation—preparation for what was ahead and confirmation of who he was. The silence of the wilderness allowed him to hear his Father’s voice and do battle with the voice of the Deceiver. 

Our culture places a premium on being overextended. Parents run their kids between half a dozen different activities (clubs, teams, practices, and groups). An indication is to look at a family’s monthly calendar and ask the question, “When in the coming month will this family be allowed to be bored? Where in the coming month will they intentionally plan to rest away from social media, video games, and appointments?” 

The extension of that might be, when will God be able to get a word in edgewise? If he is nudging us in a certain way, when will we be still enough to hear? 

I’ll always remember a two-day retreat a group of pastors had at the convent of the Benedictine Sisters. We had two vesper services with the Sisters each day. During the course of a month, the Sisters prayed through the Psalms twice. The rhythm of their community was evident. It was not busyness that made them drowsy, but rather quiet moments of meditation, prayer, and listening. 

How strange to be in that setting, to quiet our hyperactive lives, and discover something deeper and sweeter; something refreshing and renewing that didn’t require a monthly subscription. 

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Slip Ons

December 11, 2025


“Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.” (Proverbs 12:24)

I bought a pair of shoes that are “slip-ons.” They sit on the floor of my closet, and I effortlessly slide my feet into them. I’m not sure how I feel about it. There’s a slither of guilt as I slip into the slippers. Is it a sign of my laziness? As Proverbs hints, am I one of those slackers that thinks work is a four-letter word? Oh, that’s right. It is.

What are the limits of convenience? I have visions of Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, running around and making life easy for George and company.

Slip-ons are nice. I don’t grunt when I slide into them. When I revert to a pair of shoes that have shoelaces that need to be tied, I grunt as I lean over to tie the knot. I never used to grunt like a pig when grabbing the laces, but it’s now come to that. Unfortunately, I don’t have slip-on socks, so Porky is still making sounds.

Which prompts the question? What’s the next invention that will lean me even more into being incapable of labor? A car that drives itself? (Oh, I guess technology is ahead of the game already on that one!) A business that allows me to order up a meal without having to cook it, and have it delivered to my residence? (Oh! I’m way behind on that one!) A buttoned-down shirt that doesn’t need to be buttoned, but just slides on (even over my mid-section)?

I know, I know, convenience has saturated my life for a long, long time. I’m now having a hard time even remembering the pre-microwave oven days, or the days when someone had to actually get out of their chair and walk to the TV to change the channel. In the distant memories of my mind are the days before my grandparents had indoor plumbing. (Yes, they had an outhouse…complete with spiders and other creepy things)

The bible seems to promote a work ethic that has now been redefined. When work ethic is discussed, it is usually equated with getting things done, rather than slouching in the recliner with a beer and a bag of chips close at hand.

Students with a solid work ethic are usually organized and complete their assignments on time… and well. True confession! I was a procrastinator who completed assignments at the last minute. In recent times (Maybe it’s a COVID thing), students don’t even do the assignments. Sloth has settled into the classroom.

Of course, our churches have “slip-ins.” They are people who slip in and slip out, like cars in a McDonald’s drive-thru. Slip in to get a nugget of spiritual direction and slip out to resume the other 99% of life. That is, unless there is a crisis that needs more than a moment. That sounds like a variation of laziness that results in “forced labor.” Forced labor being defined as “having to deal with what has been ignored.”

Back to my “slip-ons.” One remedy is to hide them in the closet and return to my days of grunting and bending over in discomfort. Or, maybe a better solution is to balance my convenience with another way of service and help, like emptying the dishwasher, shoveling the snow in the driveway of one of our neighbors up the street who is dealing with cancer, making myself available to help at school, or inviting the neighborhood to our house for hot chocolate, cookies, queso, and chips on a Sunday afternoon. (Actually, Carol orchestrated that last suggestion this past February, and 20 of our neighbors came and stayed…and stayed…and stayed, almost like they were cherishing the moments)

Every time I slip on my slip-ons, it is now a reminder that my life is filled…okay blessed with an easiness. I’m reminding myself that the easiness is also a path that frees me up to do harder things.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Alan

October 22, 2025

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)

As I flip through the chapters of my life, I have become ever increasingly grateful for the men with whom I’ve crossed paths. Not that there haven’t been some incredible women who have influenced me as well. After all, I am married to one of them.

Sometimes the male figures have joined me on my journey for a short time, while other guys have been along for the ride so much it’s like we’re grizzled cowboys sitting around the nightly campfire together. Short-timers and long-rangers have both been instrumental in my personal and spiritual development.

A recent “cowpoke”, so to speak, is an older fella’ named Alan, who sits at the same Starbucks counter as I do. Alan is nearing eighty, drinks his coffee from an actual Starbucks mug (just like my parents did…minus the Starbucks label), and shares the same faith view of life as I do. We talk about chess, our health status, the latest class that he is auditing at the local university, and life. Our lives can not be separated from our faith.

Alan reads my blog and, no doubt, will be slightly embarrassed that he is the prime focus of this one, but it’s true. My life is a little better because of our early morning chats. He tells me about books that he has read, or is reading. John Mark Comer is one of his favorites, while I lean towards Philip Yancey.

Alan shares simple wisdom with me, not wisdom that requires a theological surgeon to decipher. Our wives have the same first name and he hails from my neck of the woods. As we talk, questions arise about the confusing situations of life and how we sometimes have learned what’s paramount in importance by walking through the fires.

We don’t go to the same church, eat at the same restaurants, or drive vehicles of similar models. In fact, I always know he’s at Starbucks by the fact that his anciet Jeep Cherokee is backed into a space. At 5:30 in the morning, it stands out in the midst of the near-empty lot. He’s absorbed in his reading, often his bible close at hand, and unaware of my entry until I say, “Good morning, Alan!” Sometimes he’s in mid-swig as I say it, but at 5:30 he’s usually ready for a refill.

In return, he greets me as I walk the ten more feet to the other end of the counter and deposit my backpack. After I get my Yeti mug of the Pike Place brew, he strolls down to my position, white mug in hand, and we update each other on the goings-on of yesterday and the hopes of the day we have begun.

In some ways, we walk another day together, two brothers privileged to have come together in a most unlikely place, simply because we like coffee.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Speed Limit Therapy

September 22, 2025

   “He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
 he restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2-3a)

I was annoyed!

The stoplight changed…kinda. It skipped me, and went back to cars going east-to-west, instead of my north-to-south direction. My knuckles went white as I gripped the steering wheel as if I was The Hulk.

A grandpa-style Buick turned from the east heading south just about the time my stoplight turned green. The LeSabre crept south at…the speed limit! I was in the vicinity of the speed limit as I quickly closed the distance between our two vehicles. And then I crept along behind Uncle Wilbur…and on…and on…and on.

I noticed my breathing quickened as impatience oozed from my body. Uncle Wilbur arrived at the next stoplight a mile down the road right about the time the light turned yellow…and then red. More east-to-west traffic.

And, seriously, it hit me…the dreaded question: Why am I in such a hurry? I wasn’t even going anywhere of importance. If I were on the way to the hospital (which was in the opposite direction) that would be one thing, but I was simply taking the car to the car wash. The car wash, where the attendant would have me pull into another line, almost bumper-to-bumper.

The light that Wilbur and I waited for gives preferential treatment to the east-west folk, so we waited. I think I needed the wait. I needed some therapy that smacked me square in the face about my speeding-though-life habit. I needed a Wilbur to be a driving force in communicating my urgent need to slow down. And not just while driving, but rather like the life zone version of a school zone, complete with flashing lights blaring at my insensitivity.

We have a new law in Colorado that allows motorcyclists to pull up to a red light between two lanes that are heading in the same direction. Invariably, when the light turns green the motorcycle acclerates to sixty before any of us vehicle-trapped people are even up to twenty. I hate the law, because it’s a reflection of our hurried-up culture, as well as a reminder to me that I’m utterly jealous. (Side note: Motorcyclists death are up sixty percent since 2018, and 2024 was the deadliest in Colorado history)

My speed symptoms are not a one-therapy-session situation. Like a dense sheep, I rush ahead with no thought about where I’m going or why I’m doing it. I need a couch in a counselor’s office that will force me to get off my feet.

Perhaps you’re more like me than you realize. Maybe we should pray that a LeSabre-driving Uncle Wilbur turns in front of us more often. It might be a case of, as Hebrews 13:2 says, “entertaining angels unaware.”

Slow angels, mind you. Real slow.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Inflating Purposelessness

June 27, 2025

  “Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)

We have a vehicle that has a tire problem. It’s not that it needs to be replaced. We’ve done that. For some reason, the same tire keeps losing air pressure. On a monthly basis, the low air pressure light comes on, and we pump more air into it. No matter how many times we do it, cold weather aas well as hot weather, it seems to be a situation where we keep trying to pump something up that can’t hold it.

It reminds me of so many tires in the sports world. That is, our culture has a way of trying to pump purpose into purposelessness, importance into the non-essential. And being people who tend to be swayed to buy swampland in Florida, we fall into the pit of the pointless.

For example, last week there was a sports program on TV of the Dog Surfing Championships, one canine after another standing stiffly on a surfboard. Add to that the time slot for the Slippery Slide Race, the Professional Pillow-Fighting League pummeling, and the Kickball Battle of the week and a person is able to waste a whole afternoon watching contests that are about as meaningful as my Aunt Irene’s “afternoon stories” (soap operas).

It seems that our lives are so rootless that we’re on the lookout for someone or something to root for. Like the continual pumping of air into my tire, it doesn’t hold with lasting meaning. It doesn’t mean we should stay away from activities that are enjoyable and entertaining, but we have a bad habit of avoiding what is most important because we’re fixated “…on a tire that won’t last.”

I saw an interview with an Episcopalian nun named Sister Monica Clare. A new book she has written entitled, A CHANGE OF HABIT, talks about the realization of where she was spending her time. She color-coded her calendar according to different pursuits. For her, God is the top priority, but her calendar showed that she was spending very little time in ways that involved the Holy. Thus, she reorganized her life to “pursue her pursuit.”

What would we say is most important, and what are the pursuits that we keep putting air into that continue to go flat? And what are the events of life that people keep telling us are important, almost vital to our existence, that we have bought into but are really meaningless? There are passions and pastimes, and we sometimes confuse the two.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

The “Meh” Birthday

May 4, 2025

“The sun comes up, and the sun goes down,
    then does it again, and again—the same old round.” (Ecclesiastes 1:5, The Message)

Tomorrow, I hit 71! My brother tells me it’s one of those “Meh” birthdays. It’s hard to get excited about it. It’s like ordering vanilla at Baskin-Robbins. Who does that??? Probably 71-year-olds.

I tried to find a scripture that would help me understand “meh-ism”, but all I found were numerous references in Proverbs about being a sluggard, getting spit out of Jesus’ mouth for being lukewarm (Revelation), and making the best use of my time because we live in evil times (Ephesians).

“Meh moments” hit all of us. Next year’s 72 will have a bit of entertainment to me, since I graduated from Ironton High School in ’72.’ On the other hand, each birthday reminds me of the fact that more of my Fighting Tigers classmates are no longer fighting. Their fight has ended.

Kind of a dreary thought.

I find it harder these days to battle through the “meh-ism” than the more intense difficulties of lower back pain, athletes I’m coaching who need their attitude adjusted, driving in the midst of psycho drivers, and managing my hunger for fried foods as my cholesterol level is screaming at me.

Some days, I’m like Simon Peter after Jesus has been crucified. He’s at a loss as to what to do, so he goes back to fishing because…”What else is a guy to do?”

My roots watered with Baptist guilt, shower upon me disbelief in how I have just wasted a whole day without getting anything constructive done. On “Meh Days”, a person tends to keep asking, “Why? What’s the point?”

I know, I know, I’m sounding like a paraphrase of Ecclesiastes. Hitting 71, however, gives me a new perspective on the subject of meaninglessness. Tomorrow is my birthday…and it just is.

I think hitting 71 will tell me that it’s okay to sigh, to not be as excited as a Colorado Rockies every time they unexpectedly win a game, or also as depressed as the same fans on the regularity of their defeats. It’s okay to trust that the Master will guide me through the day, to nor have to always be behind the steering wheel. dictating to Him like an Uber driver on the clock.

As it also says in Ecclesiastes 1, “There is a time for everything…a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away…a time to love and a time to hate.”

Tomorrow is just…a time. Another day, I will lean on Jesus to pull me through.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

Disneying Happiness

March 26, 2025


“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit…” (Romans 14:17)

We did the Disney Thing. It was great…kinda!

I admit I’m a 70-year-old granddad who is much more content enjoying a quiet moment on the back deck as opposed to spending the day with 60,000 people scurrying to get to the next attraction where the wait line is already at 75 minutes. That’s me. I’ll admit that after 25,000 steps I was whiney, snapping like a turtle, and inconsiderate.

On my positive, wise, and observant side I observed thousands of people searching for the Disney happiness that pervades every Disney advertisement. There are no crying kids or yelling parents in the TV snippets that Disney invades your family room with. There are only nights lit up with fireworks and wonder-eyed children. That’s what the attenders are looking for. Surely, the $200-a-day admission ticket, after forking over $30 to simply park will guarantee that a person will find happiness. Yes, yes, the $80 for pretzels and drinks for the family seemed a bit excessive, but the worker did smile as she handed them over.

There I go again, getting sarcastic and grumpy! I admit it.

More and more, I find people searching for happiness that is a momentary event or purchased possession. Like me, who wanted to bring happiness to my three-year-old grandson after he had spotted a light-up sword that sprayed bubbles. “Granddad, I want that.” Like a grandfather being led to the slaughter, we walked over to the cart that held the souvenirs.

“You want this?” I asked. He nodded. I asked the young lady who was hawking the wares how much the sword…or I should say, my grandson’s happiness was going to set me back.

“Thirty-seven dollars.”

I cringed and then handed over my credit card. My grandson’s face lit up as he bubble-upped my face for the next fifteen minutes. He was a happy camper and, I admit, I was a happy granddad camper because of it.

And then we went back to fighting the crowds like a canoe trying to paddle upstream. We went back to the endless wave of people searching for that elusive happy experience.

In the Old Testament, Nehemiah said, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy keeps you grounded, steady, and wise. However, joy is found in something that can’t be bought. It’s already been bought, paid for, once and for all, through the cross of Christ. A crown of thorns (not Mickey Mouse ears) was the headpiece that paved the way for our joy. A three-year-old’s smile brought me happiness (drenched in bubbles happiness, I should say!) for a moment, and a heartwarming memory of the moment.

Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) That’s a constant treasure that I’ve been blessed with, the joy of the Lord.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,

Comments: Be the first to comment

« Older Entries