Happy Father’s Day | by Linda Brendle

To all the fathers who held us close and made us feel secure and loved:

My Daddy and me – 1947

Confusion and Certainty about God | by Linda Brendle

I’m not a very deep thinker. When I was growing up in Dallas, there was a D.J. on WRR named Jim Low. One of his tag lines was “even nonconformists conform to nonconformity.” It made sense, but wrapping my young and simple mind around it gave me a headache. I feel the same way about some articles I’ve read recently about the existence of God.

Talking to My Son About Boston | reblogged post from Christian Piatt

Bill O’Reilly is angry about the Boston bombing and thinks everyone else should be, too. Last night after listening to him, David asked if I was angry. I’m not angry. I’m just sad – sad that my 9-year-old grandson has to try to make sense of something so senseless – sad that children can’t take home made treats to school any more.

Read about Christian’s conversation with Mattias over breakfast this morning:

Talking to My Son About Boston.

Blessings,

Linda

One Good Things About Daylight Savings Time | by Linda Brendle

Last week’s AgingCare.com newsletter featured a piece by Anne-Marie Botek titled “Daylight Saving Time Can Negatively Affect Senior Health.” I’m glad to have a convenient excuse for being in a fog for at least a day or two, and I’m laying claim to her article as my explanation for missing yet another “posting” day.

My Son, the Holy Heretic | by Linda Brendle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Wednesday’s post I mentioned that I was going to be a guest on Christian’s blog today.

Being Hacked and Other IT Challenges | by Linda Brendle

I’m having a real “IT” week, and it’s only Wednesday. It began on Monday morning with a text from my son Christian. If you’re new to my world, you may not know that he’s a writer, a prolific writer, and the Internet is his life. He has published several books and is a frequent contributor to a number of e-publications – and he BLOGS. He gets more views in a couple of weeks than I’ve gotten in the 19 months since I published my first post. So here’s the text he sent me:

The Fairy Tale of Gun Control | by Linda Brendle

At the risk of giving my readers whiplash, I’m following up my romantic short story from last week  with a brief commentary on the Newtown tragedy. Let me begin by saying there are no words to describe the horror and grief that go along with a massacre of this magnitude, and my prayers are with all those who suffered such great losses and all of us who are affected by the repercussions. It will take many lifetimes to study all the aspects of this event, and even then there is no way to understand or explain it. For today, I want to focus on what I call the fairy tale of gun control.

Puzzling Reflections | by Linda Brendle

My son Christian Piatt  had a confusing spiritual upbringing. He says he was raised by a Southern Baptist and an atheist, so he split the difference and became a heretic. In fact, his blog is called “Father, Son and Holy Heretic,” and he uses it as an outlet for, among other things, working through his spiritual restlessness. He recently wrote a post titled “Longing for the Unreachable God” in which he talked about wrestling with the focus on personal salvation and specifically on the assurance that some Christians, especially more conservative Christians, feel about their eternal destination. Since then I’ve spent some time reflecting on his post, and I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts. By the way, in case you’re wondering, I’m the Southern Baptist in the equation.

Blog Awards: to Participate or Not | by Linda Brendle

When I got my first “blog award” a few months after I published my first post, I was really excited. Then I read the instructions: post this award button on your blog, write a post including 7 things about yourself and links to 15 blogs including the one who sent you this award.  Be sure to send an award notification to the bloggers you mention along with an explanation of the award requirements. It sounded an awful lot like a chain letter to me, and my excitement dwindled a bit. In fact, I handled those awards the way I handle most chain letters: I did nothing. Then I got an award from Liz.

Providing for the Least of These | by Linda Brendle

A sure way to start a riot on Facebook is to post a political comment. Nobody agrees on anything political with the exception of the national debt: that it has reached critical mass and that we have to stop spending money we don’t have. Ideas vary widely as to where cuts should be made: the military budget, tax advantages, entitlement programs. Some of the cuts will come after the elections, but some of them are happening right now, and some of them are happening right here in Emory, Texas. The media pundits throw around lots of impersonal words when addressing this issue, but it’s harder to talk about when there’s a face attached to the cut.