For years, long after I’d grown too old to play with it, my toy box contained a yellow, plastic fighter-plane with a red star on each wing tip. The airplane was given to me by Grandma Dahlke (my maternal grandmother) when I was 4 or 5 years old. Not too long after receiving the airplane, […]
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. . . “-Hebrews 12:2 […]
Due to my small physical stature as a child, bullying was a frequent menace. Even by the time I was preparing for confirmation as an 8th grader, my growth spurt was a work in progress. Two boys in that class seemed to delight in contributing a decidedly unspiritual component to my Saturday mornings. During one […]
When I was an elementary student at Timothy Lutheran School in Chicago, I distinctly remember being given a small, pewter, nickel-sized pendant with Luther’s coat of arms on one side and the words “I am a Lutheran” on the other. It instilled great pride in my Lutheran heritage and faith. Similarly, growing up in suburban […]
When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I remember being in the car with my parents as they drove the short distance home from our church’s Christmas Eve service. As Dad proceeded down a residential street near our home in Evergreen Park, IL, my ever-observant eyes spotted Santa Claus walking into someone’s house. […]
The moment I spotted the new 8th grader walking into his classroom at Timothy Lutheran School in Chicago, I understood the social predicament he would soon face. When I had entered Timothy as a 4th grader, I encountered a ‘select’ group of students whose criteria for acceptance was quite simplistic and biased- if you weren’t […]
It is a Saturday morning in the spring of 1979. My course work for a master’s degree in learning disabilities complete, I enter a lecture hall at Chicago State University to take my written exams. Three questions. One hour allotted for each. No clue what I’ll be asked. I’m handed the first question and proceed […]
When I was in grade school. my parents planted a tree on our front lawn, between the sidewalk and the curb. One summer day my mom and I came home to find the tree’s trunk nearly severed. I immediately suspected three tough brothers who lived down the block, previously described in my Short Meditation “Turning […]
When my dad resided in the assisted living facility at Harwood Place in Wauwatosa, WI, he frequently could be seen walking the property, both inside and outside. He often wore a favorite yellow cardigan sweater with one or more of his World War II army medals affixed to it at chest height. This was so […]
Number 13 of the Evergreen Park Boys Club Pirates positioned himself in deep center field. As the Oriole batter stepped into the batter’s box, #13 knew what was coming. Earlier in the day that batter, a neighbor across the street, had walked up and announced: “I’m going to hit the ball over your head tonight!” […]
The time is April, 1966- Easter season and my freshman year at Luther South High School. I am standing alone in the basement of Ashburn Lutheran Church in Chicago, wearing my ‘stylish’ new pointy-tipped shoes. I am acutely aware of my mother’s absence. She has been in a sanitarium for the past 3 months with […]
There was a very popular song in the 1960’s entitled “If I Ruled the World”, where each day was the first day of spring and hearts would sing. It was an idyllic view of what the song writer wished the world would be, reminiscent of the Biblical Garden of Eden. But even in that paradise, […]