It’s a true gift to be in community with a body of believers who are from all across the spectrum of life and experience. Opening the doors wider is better for everyone. Right now the people of the world need to know about a love that never ends. As a person of faith I am committed to being a part of that community that makes connections with people where they are and who they are. Diversity in gift and spirit makes this whole thing work. To God be the glory. May the peace of the Lord be with all people. Thank you St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Chattanooga for being that place.
Tag Archives: life
Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness
On this the 241st birthday of The United States of America I am a firm believer that every American (and everyone around the world) should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as prescribed by the Declaration of Independence which was bravely signed by some very wise men during the early days of this nation.
I think if you are believer, non-believer, LGBTQ, immigrant, refugee, male, female, everyone should be afforded the rights to be who you were created to be. Our racial and ethnic diversity should be celebrated too. I also think that globally people should have the freedom to be, to be. There are too many people trying to make decisions about how people are to live and that’s not right.
In America people from all places on Earth have come to this place to find a new home, new opportunities and shelter from oppression. It is my hope they will never find America a new place where because of who they are they are not welcome.
It has been said that America is an experiment and it is still true. However let’s hope the results of this experiment result in a place where people are indeed free to be. May the world take note and may places where people aren’t free be encouraged to seek out a new path where they too have the rights to life in abundance, liberty to be who they are and happiness where they can have joyful participation in all of what life has for them.
Six Word Story
Filters strip the reality from life.
Something About Graduating High School
High School graduations are happening this weekend here in Chattanooga and it makes me remember those days in the 1980’s when life was simpler or so it seems. As you see from my yearbook picture I was just as nerdy then as I am today, minus the mustache. Do I miss the angst and pressure of those days? yes and no. I don’t miss the academic pressures but the social stuff was alright. I had friends but I found myself spending more time at home than out and about.
We all have times when we were at our best and in high school I was not the best I could be or would be. It is sad when I hear people talk about their days back then being the best of their lives as if nothing had improved or they became better versions of themselves.
For me it was my college days when I flourished. Maybe a different atmosphere and I was a little older. Graduating from high school or college for that matter means that there is a new chapter ahead in your life and you have the opportunity to do amazing things without the restrictions of youth. You become a grown up person and that is when the fun can really begin if you open your mind to it.
So to the class of 2017, you are going into an exciting time. Be willing to leave behind home for awhile and explore what is out there. Hang in there and have the time of your life ahead of you.
Duplicate Posts, Changing Person, Life Blogging
Have you ever wrote on something and found out you wrote about the same thing in an earlier blog post. I look through my blog and see that there are multiple posts about the same topic. Perhaps its a matter of new information, new perspective and new inspiration that provides new material.
The world has many many things to post about but in reality we will never experience it all. What we know and experience in our own lives can change day by day. So how we felt about something earlier can be different now.
It’s about personal growth that leads you to continue to curate and chronicle your life in such a way that you can see an evolution on how you felt about something lets say 5 years ago and how you feel about it today.
Day after day we live, grow and change and its interesting to see where we are going in this journey of life. So if you see multiple posts about the same thing from a blogger just think of it as reading the story of who that person is and where they are going in this crazy thing called life.
So duplicate posts can mean a changing person in their life blogging.
Quote Of The Day
Ethnic prejudice has no place in sports, and baseball must recognize that truth if it is to maintain stature as a national game…Branch Rickey of The Brooklyn Dodgers
The Tony Burgess Blog 