Last week, I was getting ready to depart for my second Camino pilgrimage — the Camino Portugués — by walking the so-called Central Route from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela and then on to Finisterre, Spain, a place often referred to as “the end of the world”. I had spent months training for this …
“There are good ships, there are wood ships, there are ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships and may that always be.” An old Irish proverb Do you remember what you were doing when you were 29 years old? Well for me it was in early April 1984. I had just …
𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐭. 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧: 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 “𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” (𝑷𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝟒:𝟔–𝟕) Last week I had the great experience of climbing Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It’s been on my bucket list and something I …
Once there was a tree….and she loved a little boy…The boy loved the tree and the tree was very happy”, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein Yesterday was Grandparents Day and an opportunity to celebrate one of the great blessings in my life: the gift of becoming “Papa Bear” to my four grandchildren — Aurora, Redding, …
“𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚.” 𝑳𝒚𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚, 𝑫𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆 (𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐) Can you remember the experience of sitting at the kitchen or dining room table growing up? At first glance you might say, “What’s so memorable about that oak table?” After all, …
“𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏-𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.” 𝑷𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒐, 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒊𝒍𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 One of the joys of living here at the Jersey Shore is heading out …
“𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.” 𝟭 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝟯:𝟭𝟬 This past weekend, I was deeply humbled and grateful to be honored by St. Catharine–St. Margaret Parish in Spring Lake, NJ, for my contributions as Trustee, Pastoral Council President, Finance Council member, and for leading our Bereavement Ministry. In reflecting on this chapter of my …
“Death ends a life, not a relationship. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on — in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.” From the book, Tuesdays with Morrie (1997) by Mitch Albom During the past several weeks, a …
“𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖… 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.” (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒘 11:28) In many ways, the grief journey is like carrying a backpack and a metaphor for the emotional weight we carry after the …
One of the most effective things you can do during a major life or career transition is an exercise to help you develop a Personal Advisory Board. Ideally, your Advisory Board is a carefully chosen group of individuals who you trust and who know you well. Each Advisor should bring something different to your Board, …
