Improving communities by helping residents, one person at a time.
At some point my brother and I learned what most young fellows inevitably learn. You can’t fool Mom. The lady has eyes in the back of her head. She had her ways of finding out just about any mischief we had gotten into. She… Continue Reading “My Mama Done Tol’ Me”
“Get that thing out of here. It smells to high heaven!” Or something to that effect, my mom was yelling. There I proudly stood at the kitchen door with a gunny sack of fish I had caught that day. Growing up in Long Beach,… Continue Reading “Holy Mackerel”
I used to have a little Bishop’s Miter cactus in a small blue pot. Actually, it was our son Christopher’s plant. It’s now in a new home in our relandscaped side yard of drought-tolerant plants. And every time this year, as Easter approaches, what… Continue Reading “We Can Do This”
“Let the same Mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human… Continue Reading “Keep Hope Alive”
New beginnings are afoot for the Forneys. Our son has become engaged to a most delightful woman with a wedding planned a year or so down the road. When asked if she or her family came from any faith tradition, he answered that they… Continue Reading “No Slouching”
I began as a geology major in college, but in my senior year transferred to the psychology department. It seemed, more and more that studying rocks and the eons long ago of tree ferns and dinosaurs had little to do with the real-life problems… Continue Reading “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”
We see the grim faces of mothers pushing strollers waiting in lines that stretch for hours. Hundreds, mostly women and children, seeking refuge from indiscriminate bombing. Many have had little sleep and little to eat. Sanitation facilities are in horrid shape or non-existent. Husbands,… Continue Reading “Aliens in a Strange Land”
A rather unusual experience happened to me one sometime past at the grocery store. Our local store was in the process of being remodeled, and the location of virtually everything has been changed. I’m not sure why this was necessary, but I go in… Continue Reading “Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down”
This Sunday we wind up the liturgical season of Epiphany. Most of our readings have been about the revelation of the Holy in Christ and God’s presence as manifest in the Church – the Body of Christ (see the book of Acts). Our readings… Continue Reading “Bright and Shiny Church”
In the days of another former president, I would some days wake up, and after listening to the morning news think, “I could do better than that.” With some presidents, that was a more frequent thought than with others. Mumbling about idiotic decisions and… Continue Reading “Blessed Are…”