FOOTBALL: John Henry & Paul Bunyan in cleats! Part II

As a Christian, I’m clear about how Jesus saved me. And I know this is going to sound real strange, but football saved me in the world of my childhood and adolescence. Salvation in the first instance is on a spiritual level that translates into a life lived by the Golden Rule. Treat others the [...]

FOOTBALL: Masculinity making at its finest! PART I

That is a bit of an overstatement, but I do want you to know that I don’t think there is any sport or activity that encompasses the processes of making a boy into a man like football. It’s socially sanctioned violence. If you blew somebody up with a trap block, rode the quarterback to the [...]

Why blog? The Beauty and Power of Storytelling!

When my siblings and I were small, our mother gave us a great gift! She breathed the belief in us that we were wonderful people and not to ever let anyone tell you any different. We were taught that we were not only wonderful, but special. The challenge offered to us by our mom and [...]

So, what is a man?

So, what is a man? The following excerpt is from an interview I did with a 45 year old Amish blacksmith for my book, “The Voices of Men.” If you listen to this man’s language you hear warmth, empathy and compassion throughout. He wants to be manly, but not at the expense of his sensitivity [...]

The “Bad Brother” Stories: Part III “Chiller Theater”

Saturday nights in our house on Middle Street was always the same. Channel 11 had a double feature of horror movies and the show was called Chiller Theater. It was hosted by Chilly Billy Cardilly. He even had a cameo in George Romero’s original “Night of the Living Dead.” This became part of the Saturday [...]

The “Bad Brother” Stories! Part II

I love all those Bible stories you learn in Sunday School. But I was bothered by one of them. It had to do with Joseph and his older brothers. His older brothers sold Joseph into slavery as a way to get rid of him and the Sunday school teachers made it sound like the older [...]

The “Bad Brother” stories! Part I

As I’m writing these entries, I’m aware that they are mostly positive. So, in an effort to balance out the reality, I’ll add what I call “Bad Brother” stories. Older brothers are supposed to watch out for younger siblings, providing direction and guidance. Well, when my mom decided to have more children after my sister [...]

“Honey, you ain’t fat, you’re huskey!” George Herbert Mead and the Looking-Glass Self

Well, almost everyone in my family was overweight or obese. But, interestingly enough, I think the negative sentiment is worse today. I’m waiting for public sentiment to become so judgmental of fat people that we will rework Santa’s appearance to that of a svelte Arnold Swarzenegger type with a six-pack instead of that big belly. [...]

“I don’t believe in happiness!”

What an outrageous statement! The reason I propose this belief is because it is IMPOSSIBLE to attain a condition or state of happiness. Oh, I know that we have the right as Americans to pursue “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” For heaven’s sake, it is in the Constitution. But where we Americans make [...]

“God permanence”

I’m currently teaching on infants in my Human Growth and Development class. Babies are so intriguing! They grow and change in such dramatic ways in very small moments in time. And the most interesting developmental milestone, when I think about babies is Piaget’s notion of object permanence. Around 8 or 9 months the baby develops [...]