All posts by Tony Burgess

Hi there, my name is Tony Burgess (my friends call me T-Bird) from Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. I am a believer, bleeding heart, idealist, and blogger. I'm married to Laura the Soup Diva and a dog dad to Frankie, Cody, and Mikey. Daily I work for a blood bank recruiting donors. My blog is where I chronicle and curate the sacred, serious, and silly things in my life. I am a member of The Episcopal Church. Thank you for connecting with me. Grace, peace, and love!

A Reminder

Sometimes we need to be reminded what century we live in. That is no joke.

Too often we see accounts of actions, viewpoints and other things that have a place in the last century or further back. Our world is different, its changed, people have changed but some want to hold on to the old ways of doing things and embrace even the old time religion.

I have a saying that the good old days were not good for everyone. Some prospered in the 1950’s but some were persecuted. We can all see times in the life of our country where people who were different were treated like second class citizens. We look today and it still seems to be happening.

What is sad is that the future hasn’t been bright for everyone because its more of the same. I am a idealistic and optimistic person but looking at the reality of it all we seem to be in a clash of culture, faith and politics. Friends the revolution is now. We must be ready for it. I hope for better days. Our work here on Earth isn’t done. The voices of the past should tell us how to have a better future and that is not to repeat things that didn’t work.

It is my hope that everyone will be able to love who they choose, worship from their own kind of pew and then we shall be free…thank’s Garth Brooks for that one.

Be strong and of good courage, we all need that. Grace and peace.

States I Have Visited Before…


Create Your Own Visited States Map

There are a few more I would like to visit and some I would like to return visit.

Thanks For The Nominations and Challenges

Thank you for the nominations and challenges I have received. I appreciate your inclusiveness and kindness. Your consideration is appreciated, however I will try to get to them as soon as I can. I am still getting to know WordPress better and once I can get a better feel of things I should be able to get to acknowledging them. You all rock!

A Ramble About Me

I don’t think highly of myself. Perhaps it’s humility or just low self esteem. I still don’t get why people way cooler than me like me. There’s not a lot unique or outstanding about me. I’m a fairly basic person. Acceptance is something everyone wants whether they admit it or not and it’s something I like. Seeking approval is a struggle I seem to have. I hope I’m making sense here.

Six Word Story

Writing about controversy takes much courage.

Caitlyn

I don’t pretend to be an expert on the subject of transgender issues but when Caitlyn Jenner was introduced to the world yesterday it made a huge splash everywhere. As a fellow human being I support Jenner’s journey because we all have journey’s we are taking to discover who we are. Some folks go through a more radical exploration of who they are and it takes courage to embrace it and to be who they were meant to be. She is beautiful and alive, that is a good thing.

As a person of faith I come from a community that doesn’t always understand issues of gender and sexuality outside of “traditional” norms. One thing we are missing is that Jenner and other folks in the LGBTQ community are God’s children too and they need to be treated as such for who they are. I am a believer that God has a purpose for their lives too and perhaps its one that isn’t easily understood yet. Affirming people for who they are takes courage, changing them is not within anyone’s job description. We all have to work out our place in eternity and in the universe with some fear and trembling. Life is scary if you ask me.

So I salute Ms. Jenner and others who want to be who they are inside. To the boy in the small town who is playing with dolls instead of dirt hang in there young man, life will be better. And to the young girl playing with tools instead wearing a tutu its all good life will be better. Those are the people who need the example of Caitlyn.

May we all have grace and peace today. May we all have courage to tell our story with the world.