I’ll tell you a story about a man I knew. He grew up in a poor neighborhood, a rough neighborhood. His parents were immigrants. They were poor, yet they worked hard and sent him to the best schools they could afford, often making great sacrifices for his education. This man worked very hard. He did all the things he was supposed to do. He went into the army, and when he came out, he got a job with an insurance company. In time, he was their best salesman. He made good money. He took that money and started his own insurance company. He started small. For a long time, it was just he and one employee,...

A few years ago, a man feeling despondent over the loss of his job and the tremendous debt he was carrying, chose to take the lives of his wife, his five children, and then killed himself. How terrible it is to lose hope. Having had an anxiety attack once, I can understand how this feeling of fear and hopelessness could lead a person to desperate acts. What demons must have tortured this man. We are all tortured by demons. I have mine. You have yours. We all have those horrible fears we keep deeply hidden. We all have those things in life that control us. One person is addicted to coffee. Another...

I don’t really have any regrets when I think back on my life. But there are a couple experiences I wish I could have had. I mean, I suppose I still might have these experiences, but at my age, it doesn’t seem likely, and no…I’m not talking about any particular sex acts. I think I would have liked the opportunity to be really comfortable financially. I’m not talking about rich, here, just…comfortable. You know, I’d like to not have to worry about having enough money to pay all my bills, or to be able to just up and take a trip to France without saving for years. I’d like to have...

I may seem like some kind of seeker, but I’m not. The truth is, who knows why we do the things we do? I can remember from my earliest childhood being called to certain images. When I was four years old, I was fascinated by a statue that stood high atop a building in the city of San Pedro. Whenever my mom or dad went there on business and brought me with them, I made the drive by that statue so I could see it. I had no idea whom the statue represented. I only knew I loved it. I would not find out until only ten years ago that it was a statue of the Virgin Mary. I can’t really explain why I have...

Today is the feast of the Epiphany. This is the day that Christians celebrate the arrival of those three wise guys from the east. Actually, as I’m sure most of you know, it nowhere says that there were three of them. What it says is that Magi came from the east, whatever the hell Magi are. The Greek word, magios, refers to priests and wise men, “magicians”, with the ability to interpret dreams. It does not say they were “kings”. So much for we three kings. Matthew is the only gospel to mention them. But there is a reason for this. Here is the reading: When Jesus was born in Bethlehem...

We just got back from Phoenix, Arizona.  We went for Christmas.  It was a great trip.  A few years ago, though, we had a horrible trip to Phoenix.  The car broke down in Indio.  We were stuck there for hours.  There are few things worse than being stuck in Indio, except, perhaps, being stuck in Bakersfield.  The funny thing was that I had a feeling before we even left our driveway that something was going to go wrong. From time to time in my life I have had those feelings. I’m sure all of you have. You get this funny feeling that something just isn’t right, or something is. That’s...

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...

You’re here once again reading one of these little gems about God and religion. Perhaps you’re interested to see if I’m going to say anything interesting or funny. Perhaps you want to know a little more about that ancient history, or about that Greek language, or about the beginnings of Christian traditions, or about what Jesus really had to say about things. Or perhaps there is something that just compels you to read them. Something has caused you to want to voyage on these seas, as it were. Who knows why we make the choices we do. But you have chosen to read this far, at least. You are...

The book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus taught me one important thing about the difference between men and women. When women complain about the things that are bothering them, they just want someone to listen. Men are looking for advice. So when men hear women complain, men think they want someone to offer them solutions to their problems. They don’t. They just want to vent. Men, on the other hand, want someone to fix things, or at least offer us a way to fix things. And that’s why we’re always offering women unwanted advice. Of course, this is by no means absolute. Yet it is still...

When I was young, I had a passing interest in our family tree. My mom used to tell us stories about our family, her side of the family, anyway. I used to listen to them. I enjoyed them. Who isn’t interested in their family? She would tell the stories, but I never made any real attempt to remember them. I mean, she was always there. Why remember them? But later on, when I got older, I wanted to tell those same stories to my wife and to my kids. I remembered some parts, but some parts of the stories I had forgotten. And I knew I wasn’t getting the whole thing right. So from time to time, when...