The J-Spot

So much that I do not know… Image by 1tamara2 from Pixabay and Unsplash | edited by the author Being raised in a family who didn’t regularly attend church, I had no solid foundation for understanding what exactly my spirit was made of. Dinner-time prayer, grade-school, holiday church visits with the grandparents, and a healthy upbringing encouraged my growth physically, but only gently suggested that I should ever ask the big questions. I never remember anyone trying to tell me what I should believe, well, except for strangers. Interesting concept, that. If you really think about it, aren’t those people who try and tell you what you should believe the ones that you keep at arms length, or eventually push away? Maybe we make them strangers for our own good? Perhaps, because they are strange. Recently, I was sitting with my teenage daughter and having a discussion about how life can get repetitive, and in-turn look boring. But I was iterating that the repetition is still jus...

Is it God’s will? Our will? His will or their will? Image produced by the Author | copyright Bookflurry Inc. 2021 I enjoy my church. It’s The Bridge at Palma Sola Bay . I will continue to enjoy it unless I do something dumb enough that they would ban me. I’m competing with myself for that award so, I know the bar is high! I once told my pastor, after he was so inspired by the worship team’s music that he danced right out onto stage early, that I loved his sermon and his energy, but I had yet to eat enough mushrooms as to accidentally find myself up there dancing. He chuckled playfully. Probably unsure of whether to nervously encourage my own energy or suggest I not eat mushrooms. It’s a real possibility. Not me eating the mushrooms, my wife and children would never stand for that, but the music being so inspiring that you dance your way onto the stage. Reality was, I’d simply been reading a book on mushrooms , and I have a tendency to become what I read, temporarily . Currently, I’...

 Know Thyself and Know Nothing at All. Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay and edited by the Author I’ve been trying really hard lately to replace all of my I knows with I agrees or I disagrees. It’s really hard to add water to a vessel that is already full. One of the Pastors during a Sunday service said that if you don’t believe in religion, spirituality, a higher power, or God in general, just to simply ask the universe for some understanding. It seemed like a ridiculous thing for an atheist to do. I mean, does the universe really have ears? But, after further analysis of myself, I found that the real question was, Do I? Have ears , I mean . The truth be told, my internal dialogue sometimes deafens the external world of teaching moments and opportunity. I can’t tell you how many times I sat through a class in highschool rolling my eyes to the top of my skull in an effort to block out the words of a teacher that I had already heard or I already knew. My thought...

 Is there a right way to do it? Image courtesy of flickr and edited by the author You have to give it to the magistrates. We think how difficult it must be to exact a ruling that may change peoples’ lives forever. But is it the judgement or the act itself that really changes history? The fact is, oftentimes it’s both. I arrived at AA one evening to a guest speaker on the stand. It was the thirtieth anniversary of the night he had killed his best-friend by being drunk behind the wheel at eighteen-years-old. He recounted the incident with glossy eyes yet unwavering resolve. Later I would find out it was because he speaks on a weekly basis in schools, at luncheons, in military academies, and at recovery meetings across the country. His name will remain anonymous due to the AA creed, but a quick google search will turn up tons of similar stories that have led young offenders to a life of public speaking. They all do it for the same reason; because they may save a singl...

When the tough gets going, it’s gonna get thicker. Images courtesy Pixabay and edited by the Author I’m forty now. My latest challenge has been sent out to an old friend of mine to see who can perform a proper pike-to-handstand first. Assuming we live that long . Man, the going has got to be the toughest I’ve been through yet! I was just lying on my back doing single leg lifts. There’s an open air park with an incline bench. You know, the ones with a bar at top so you can hold on above your head? It’s close enough for me on lunch break. I can’t do a split. But I lie down on my back anyhow. I stretch my arms up above my head and straighten them, then try kicking my hands, twenty-times with one straight leg and then the other. My foot makes it right about to where I can see it before it tries taking the other leg in tow. So, instead of a beautiful ballet-like front kick, I end up throwing more of what looks like the K you make in sign language, from my hips. Then, I struggle to...

T-minus Life Images Courtesy of Pixabay and Edited by the Author It’s only when we’re terminal that we give Life the respect it deserves. Terminal velocity is when you’ve reached the point that you cannot fall any faster as opposed to the medium you’re falling through —   — when the air around you gets real . So thick it’s just like you’re standing with your feet back on the ground. I titled my first book Life’s a JOKE! (now out-of-print) on the premise that you can prevent yourself from negatively affecting your experience by first taking things as a joke and working from there. But there is a big difference between taking things lightly and playing too much! I was working as an EMT in Florida when I parked the ambulance curbside at the bus station. The call had come in as an eighteen-year-old-male that had his throat slit. Blood was everywhere, but the guy was sitting on the curb when we arrived, keeping his head on his shoulders by gripping handfuls of neck-skin on each side. H...

 Don’t let the Devil Suck You In Photo by Aggressive Site I very wise person once said, “It is not the emotion that is ever wrong, only one’s reaction to it.” As a young man I was managing a band. It was a group of extremely talented individuals. Travis was the best, because he had this upbeat rhythm to all of his experiences, no matter how hard. Which is funny, because he was the drummer. But the rhythm of his Life was even more beautiful than his drumming, which was extraordinary. Boy, was the singer. He has the most harmonious voice, but he often screamed so loud and rageful that you wouldn’t understand his words. It was grunge rock, so that was to be expected. But boy (no pun intended) could he harmonize. You should of heard his beautiful sonnets! I often fantasized about being up there singing where he was. Who didn’t? But, I was just the manager. Though they often referred to me as their inspiration. Maybe it was back then that I got my first cue from God that I sho...