You know what I hate? I hate trying to phone some company and having to wade through seven or eight layers of computer prompts in order to do what I want to do. A few months ago, I received my daily New York Times soaking wet. The delivery person had delivered it without a plastic wrapper on a rainy morning. No doubt it wasn’t raining when he delivered it, but I assume he has a radio that receives weather reports just as mine does. So I called the 800 number provided by the newspaper. First I was prompted to decide whether or not I wanted the editorial or administrative offices. Then, I was prompted...

Today is Wednesday. That’s ASH Wednesday to all good Catholics in the know. Today, everywhere, good little Roman Catholics will attend mass and at the proper moment, have a smudge of ash placed on their forehead while the priest mutters, “Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” How’s that for a wake-up call? And on Thursday I will know who doesn’t wash their face everyday by the little splotches of charcoal still adorning the faces smiling before me. I should point out that Catholics are not required to go to mass on Ash Wednesday. It is only...

Okay, so before, I told you that I was going to give you all you need to know to help resolve conflicts in your day to day lives. And if I manage to succeed at this I fully expect to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize or something. Solving conflicts is not an easy thing to do. If it were, there would be no wars, would there? So here we go. Let’s assume you have a conflict with somebody. I know that rarely happens, but hey, it’s good to be forearmed. Or maybe that isn’t the best word, considering the topic and all. The first thing we all need to do is to let go of this idea of winning and...

As a teacher I have to try to resolve differences nearly every day of the week. Now keep in mind that for most of my teaching career, I’ve been working with ten and eleven year old children. However, I find that there’s not much difference between children and adults, especially when it comes to feelings. I think our feeling-emotional side is really closest to the child inside of all of us. And we get just as hurt as children do when we feel slighted or attacked verbally. One of the biggest lies that most of us tell (including me, by the way. I don’t leave myself out of this) is that we don’t...

Well, tomorrow is Christmas. And this day always brings images of Mary and Joseph coming into the little town of Bethlehem looking for some place to lay their heads and for Mary to give birth to the child who would grow up to change the world forever, or at least as long as there are people here. It’s a beautiful story; it really is. I hope it’s true, or at least most of it. Of course there are a lot of historical problems with the story. And this all stems from the simple fact that the only sources we have for this story come from two of the gospels, Luke and Matthew. Mark and John...

The relationship of Sifu is not an easy one to explain.  Within a kung fu school, sifu means teacher.  But a sifu is more than a teacher.  Sifu also means master.  And the diligent kung fu student accepts the sifu as his or her master, doing whatever is asked of him or her, as any good apprentice would.  But sifu also means father.  And in the traditional kung fu school, a sifu is just that.  When the teacher agrees to take someone on as a student, that student becomes as a child of the master, and the master becomes an adopted parent, a father, a sifu. My sifu, Richard Cunningham, satisfied...

Last night, I saw a really bad movie. It was made in 1934 and starred Gary Cooper and Marion Davies. Now I realize that this film was made a long time ago and the values of our society have changed; however, it had to be one of the most racist films I’ve ever seen, in a non-racist way. That is, the film was just filled with racial stereotypes. The film was about a woman, an actress, recruited by the north during the civil war, to spy on the confederates. It must have been a particularly difficult role for Marion Davies to play the part of an actress. She had no experience. In order...

Well, Saturday came and went and the faithful are still here.  The Apocalypse did not come to pass.  And all around the country, people are having a good bit of fun at the expense of those who chose to believe the message that Family Radio spent millions of dollars proclaiming.  A certain amount of laughter is understandable.  Certainly, the idea that we can know when the end of time is coming is not a gospel idea.  Jesus said that he would return like a “thief in the night.”  He also said no one knew the time of his return but the Father. Still, the fact that a great many people believed...

You have already heard that the fifth of May, cinco de mayo, is not as big a holiday in México as it is here in the United States. You have also heard that it is NOT, contrary to popular opinion, Méxican Independence Day, which is actually September 16th, called el 16 de septiembre strangely enough. So what is this holiday all about? There is more to it than Corona and Cuervo (not the best tequila, I might add), that’s for sure. And while it is not so celebrated in Mexico as it is here, it truly IS an important day to remember, but not for the reasons most people think. And all...

So today is is Wednesday. That’s ASH Wednesday to all good Catholics in the know. Today, everywhere good little Roman Catholics will attend mass and at the proper moment, have a smudge of ash placed on their forehead while the priest mutters, “Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” How’s that for a wake-up call? And on Thursday I will know who doesn’t wash their face everyday by the little splotches of charcoal still adorning the faces smiling before me. I should point out that Catholics are not required to go to mass on Ash Wednesday. It is only suggested....