Author: Roger Edwards

high school reunion

  I had received a call out of the blue from someone I’d not seen in 45 years.  She told me about a planned high school reunion for the class of ’74 from Jordan Matthews High in  Siler City, NC.  She took my address and promised to send info.  When I got the invite, I was curious.  When I decided to go, I was nostalgic.  But when I hit the “Reply” button, my next sensation was fear. At first, I thought this was about my memory.  Someone with a semi-familiar… Continue reading high school reunion

the secret to resolving conflict

  People have trouble resolving conflict.  Every marriage counseling session is, in part, trying to undo an unhealthy pattern of conflict resolution.  But I know a secret.  And if people used this one secret, I might lose half my counseling business.  Still, I share this secret with everyone, yet no one seems to catch on.  But you, dear reader, are different.  So I am going share it with you. Here it is: Don’t try to resolve conflict when you are hurt and angry.  Wait until you are just hurt. “That’s… Continue reading the secret to resolving conflict

bats in my attic

  My wife, Jean, and I were reading in our living room when she shrieked. “Calm down,” I thought, then looked up where she was pointing.  A dark, leathery shape was flapping in erratic circles around the light fixture.  It swooped past my head, then I shrieked, “It’s a bat!”  We pulled our feet up under our bodies and put our books over our heads. “Do something!” she shouted. Well, anyone could plainly see that I was doing something; that book wasn’t staying on my head by itself.  But I… Continue reading bats in my attic

put your heart in God

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:19-21) “It’s time for you to start a savings account,” my mom said to me.  “Get your cigar box and let’s go to the bank.”  We got into the car.  On the seat beside me was… Continue reading put your heart in God

hearing the truth in love

  “Speak the truth in love,” Paul teaches us.  This is part of a larger point: not only are we to “speak the truth in love,” we are to “live a life of love” (Eph. 5:1).  Paul is teaching us how to live a profoundly new life.  So think about the flip side of speaking the truth in love.  To live a new life of love, doesn’t it follow that we are to also “hear the truth in love”? What does that mean? Well, I know what the opposite is;… Continue reading hearing the truth in love

speaking the truth in love

  I was traveling on business to a city cross-country.  So I called a friend to ask if I could stay with him while there. “No,” he said, in a matter-of-fact but friendly way. I didn’t know what to do.  He wasn’t supposed to say that.  He should’ve said either “yes” (whether he meant it or not) or “let me check and see if that will work.”  But he wasn’t supposed to tell me the truth, not flat out like that.  Even if he knew it wouldn’t work, or even… Continue reading speaking the truth in love

she’s in another dimension

  Note: I wrote this post six years ago when my mom lay dying in hospice. I am reposting it now because it is Easter.  And at Easter, I think about my mom’s death – and her resurrection.  I think about the transition she made: life to death, then death to life.  It makes me think about that greeting my mom received when Christ welcomed her home.  Makes me want that greeting too. “She’s in another dimension,” Marita said. She was the hospice nurse who had just come in to… Continue reading she’s in another dimension

Covering My Fear

  I blew my horn at a man today.  Yes, a strong blast of indignation.  He deserved it—I strongly felt—for swerving around me even before I was at the end of the ramp.  Why, if I hadn’t seen his lights—large and encroaching in my rear view mirror—I would have merged sideways into him causing a large crash of metal and glass.  Then what would have happened to his haste?  Yes, I blew my horn; a sharp toot of rebuke. He sped off into the dark apparently unfazed by my protest.  His tail lights became dots that blended… Continue reading Covering My Fear

birthday call

  My birthday was on a Wednesday this year.  Mid-week it was, so off to work I went; just another day at the office, the usual routine.  That was my attitude.  I should say, that was my chosen attitude. There was an envelope sitting on my desk.  I knew it was the office birthday card, in which all my colleagues write a brief birthday greeting.  “Ah, the birthday card,” I thought, “the special birthday card that everyone gets.  That’s nice.” A few minutes later my wife, Jean, called.  “Good Morning.… Continue reading birthday call

hiking scared

  Several years ago, I visited Glacier National Park.  It was a wonderful week of reading, journaling, and hours hiking through stunning scenery.  I went for solitude and reflection.  But it was the experience of day-hiking that produced a major insight about myself: I walk through life looking over my shoulder. The insight came because I hiked the whole week literally looking over my shoulder.  Glacier National Park has the highest population of grizzly bears of any U.S. national park.  So I walked those impressive trails with one eye on… Continue reading hiking scared