Someone out there needs to read this. Act One Twenty-seven years ago this morning I woke up hungover for the last time. The plan was to end my life. Alcohol had convinced me that I had no reason to go on. I was twenty-seven. I’d spent twenty-seven years wandering in darkness, trying to find a reason for living. Hope was gone. And on this day, it would all mercifully end. But then, in my darkest moment, light appeared. Along with…
This summer I was part of a mission trip that traveled to Honduras for a week. The idea was for us to serve God while spreading love to people who didn’t look like us, live like us, talk like us, eat like us, or act like us. Because of these differences, I was nervous in the days leading up to the trip. Plus, the idea of traveling to a different country without my family and with no connection to the…
Imagine being so desperate that you’d walk hundreds of miles across deserts and through jungles to leave your homeland for a better place for your family. Imagine knowing that when you got to where you’re going there was a pretty good chance you would be turned away, but you still did it because of how little hope is left in your homeland. Imagine that. Really. Take some time today to concentrate for a few minutes on how that must feel…
You are a human being and, as such, you are susceptible to stress. And the more stress you accumulate, the heavier it becomes. At some point, if you accumulate too much, the weight of carrying it can break you. Twenty-seven years ago I planned to take my life. I had given in to voices that convinced me I was worthless. Thankfully, I was saved from this end by a fucking miracle. And for twenty-seven years my life has gotten markedly…
Saturday afternoon. I was coming off a 12-hour shift at the Air Force Base on a Guard weekend. From the train station, it was a 30 minute taxi ride to my apartment. I was tired. I grabbed a cab, told the driver where I was headed, and donned my Walkman headphones ready to drift into a dream. I rummaged through my satchel and found the cassette for In Through The Out Door. *Click*Pop*Click* and the opening chords of Fool in…
Sometime in January I made a commitment to get better. To become a better human being. To be less cynical and more open to the ideas of others. And while the short term results have, for the most part, been amazing–the more I practice I find myself routinely confronted with certain baggage that gets in the way of breaking through the din of the world to a more peaceful state-of-mind. Most notably the concepts that get in the way are…
