Author: Roger Edwards

Losing Resentment Pounds

  It is a new year and I want to lose some weight. Not the physical kind of pounds (although I am working on that, too), but the emotional pounds.  I’ve put on quite a few. Let’s call this extra emotional weight “resentment pounds.”  In some ways, they are different than physical weight.  You can’t always see resentment pounds; they are hidden more easily than that roll in the middle.  And you can’t measure resentment on a scale.  But like physical pounds, resentment pounds cause bodily stress, mental distress, and… Continue reading Losing Resentment Pounds

Connecting Gifts: How to Use the Week between Christmas and New Year’s

  I look forward to the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  It is a peaceful contrast to the hectic days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Before Christmas, you have anticipation and fun activities, of course.  But you also have pressure and this nagging sense that you are forgetting something.  But after Christmas, there is space to remember.  There is time to remember who you are and what you are called to be. The gift-giving on Christmas morning is a reminder of the gifts of God – specifically the gift… Continue reading Connecting Gifts: How to Use the Week between Christmas and New Year’s

Stolen Battleship

  “Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”  – Psalm 32:2 I was 9, it was Sunday afternoon and our family was visiting my cousin’s home. Jack was the kid who had all the neat stuff. He had pets; fish, gerbils and a 3-word Parrot. He had an arsenal of toys; cool squirt guns, a bow and arrow, BB guns. He had the latest tech; a cassette tape recorder – which we hid underneath the kitchen table where… Continue reading Stolen Battleship

Receiving: It’s Complicated

You would think that receiving a compliment would be a simple thing – a natural thing even. But for me, receiving a compliment is complicated. In fact, receiving anything is complicated. “You’re a good man”, my wife says this to me the other day. No warning, she just says it – offhand, like it just came to her. Authentic and clean. Hmmm. Now if she had tacked on a request I could have handled it better. “You’re a good man…so wouldn’t mind cleaning out the garage…would you?” Or, if she’d… Continue reading Receiving: It’s Complicated

Why Am I Allowed Two?

    No matter how many times I read Chesterton’s poem, I never expect that last line, ‘Why am I allowed two?’  The line startles me, rouses me awake. I rub my eyes. Yes, I wonder – why am I allowed another day? The question helps me to focus, to really see this ‘great world round me.’ It helps me rediscover my, ‘eyes, ears, hands.’ The line shakes me into astonishment. All these gifts? All this mine? The line brings other questions, ‘Who allowed me into this world?’ ‘What fun might I have with the gift of… Continue reading Why Am I Allowed Two?

Dependence

  I am 10 years old, sitting in front of a console TV, watching a first-season episode of Star Trek. The situation is dire, as the Enterprise is being sucked into an inescapable black hole. Captain Kirk, acting on instinct, had ordered the crew to veer off-course in order to save a distressed ship, whose commander (an alien female) happens to be stunningly beautiful, despite being bald and green. Overcoming the different-species-cultural-barrier problem, Kirk and the alien commander hit it off immediately. But Kirk has put the Enterprise in the… Continue reading Dependence

Smile

Tomorrow, I get my braces off. I will drive to my orthodontist’s office, where the friendly staff will greet me and be excited for me (big shout out to Todd and his great staff team!). But I will likely try to look cool and collected. I’ll thank them and make a few dry humor remarks. No big deal. I do this every day. But the truth is that I am very excited. Excited in a middle-school-this-is-going-to-be-great kind of way. I’ve been counting the days – I even got a countdown… Continue reading Smile

Searching Behavior

. We hope you’ll enjoy this post from Roger Edwards, previously shared on his own blog several years ago:   Last week, I attended a ‘Complicated Grief’ seminar for Continuing Education Credits. The presenter, (a Fellow of Thanatology), taught that there is one main difference between grief and depression. Grief possesses the quality of yearning, whereas depression is sadness without yearning. The yearning, of course, is for the someone (or something) you have lost. You want them back; you think about them. Perhaps you even search for them. They call… Continue reading Searching Behavior

So I Got That Going For Me….

Bill Murray, played the character of Carl Spackler, a wacky groundskeeper at a golf resort in the 1980 movie, Caddyshack. In one memorable scene, he tells a story where he claims that he went to Tibet and caddied for the Dali Lama himself. At the end of the round, as he remembers it, the Dali Lama is going to stiff him by withholding the tip. So Carl speaks up, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.” And he (the Lama) replies, “Oh,… Continue reading So I Got That Going For Me….

Goals and Fear

Ah, it is a new year! Time to set new goals! Looking back at 2017, I am proud to say that I have kept one goal every single day. A real success story. But the point of sharing my story isn’t to show you how to keep your goals (as you shall see, I don’t deserve much credit here). The point is to illustrate why we avoid setting goals in the first place. My 2017 goal was to straighten my teeth. So, I went to the Orthodontist and asked him… Continue reading Goals and Fear