The sultry August day my grandfather passed away, I walked up the path under the willow trees. I noticed the group gathered around my grandfather’s lawn chair. I knew he was there. Tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t join the group.

Pain: What a terrible curse. Men under the threat of pain have revealed national secrets and abandoned family, country and religion. The cupboards of many Americans are filled with painkillers, and pharmacies do a booming pain-relieving business.

Recently, I have been recording family histories, and I found three stories I heard as a child that I thought my readers would like. Looking back to the past, there are stories that reveal the character and desires of our ancestors and shed light our own traditions and desires.

I had a conversation with a fellow student when we were in college, back in the Dark Ages. He said, “How are we different from the caveman? Do you know how to make a computer? Do you know how to do build a car?”

Two seasons in my life I have dreaded the coming of Mother’s Day. Once when I was single and now that my mother has passed on.

It is easy to sit in our cozy comfort zones and play the blame game. When we see homeless people on the street in their ragged, dirty appearance, it is easy to say, “If they had made different choices, they would not be in such a predicament.

Our children are fed a fiery menu of confusion every day. They wake up in the morning to hear the chatter of violence, yet they are supposed to be kind to their peers. They see adults cheer their favorite hero as he obliterates his enemy in a grand explosion that takes out half the city.

During the first part of the pandemic of 2020, I read a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. It had such an impact on my thinking I read it twice. His books asserts that you do not change by setting goals but by the daily rituals we perform consistently.

The pandemic of the decade is not COVID-19. It is double-mindedness. Our nation has become a society of people who can cross their fingers behind their backs and tell bold-faced lies for political expediency, and then in another setting deny they made the comment if it is problematic to their careers.