spiritual insights on religion, social justice and comparative theology
My friend Mike recently retired from being a policeman. He is also a fireman, so there were a number of friends from the fire hall at his retirement gathering. Mike was destined to be a public servant. As kids, he was always at the fire hall and sometimes brought me along to help him clean … Continue reading Battling Homefront Fires by William Klein
It’s tough to decide the difference between those living in fear and those living in willful ignorance in scripture, but there are signposts that point to Jesus’ disdain for those who are willfully acting foolish when they should know better. Looking at the Gospel According to Mark, there are two times where we know that … Continue reading The Dangers of Willful Ignorance by William Klein
We all live a “crabbing” life to some extent. We drift, as if on a boat, from the highest ideals we can imagine to the harsh realities of life and hope we can make our way to the safe edge of the dry dock land of some kind of certainty. We hear the word “crabbing” … Continue reading “Crabbing” to Become a Realist by William Klein
Mary Flannery O’Connor is the quintessential southern gothic writer and one of the greatest American writers our country has ever produced. Although her life was cut short at the age of 39, she left us two novels, thirty-two stories, essays and reviews. Her stories evoke horror, surprise and thought-provoking insights all while inspiring laughter and … Continue reading Flannery by William Klein
The first time I ever meditated was at a Buddhist temple in Cleveland. I was fulfilling an assignment for my “World Religions” class and attended a service there. I remember the Buddhist priest carrying a stick to keep practicioners honest. He was wielding it to ensure they stayed awake during the meditation and would gently … Continue reading Meditation and The Art of Dying by William Klein
Love is as allusive as a breeze through a tree. It can’t be caught, but it can be experienced and understood by an individual for the time he needs it to comprehend something deeper, more meaningful. If you’ve marked any time on this beautiful globe, you’ve experienced love’s wonder in some capacity. The Greeks allude … Continue reading Love Multiplies by William Klein
The road changes you. The likes of Jack Kerouac knew that, so did playwright Sam Shepherd who refused to fly and drove everywhere. Kerouac wrote about the adventures of characters he encountered on the road and recorded the history of a beaten generation. Sam Shepherd wrote about the aesthetic of the road; a load tied … Continue reading Stories From the Road by William Klein
As a writer we are taught to use the exclamation point sparingly. There are limitations to writing that cannot truly express your joy with words, hence the overuse of exclamation points. I use them as gradual builds in paragraphs when writing informal notes to friends. It’s as if to say, “I am so excited about … Continue reading The Exclamation Point by William Klein
Fantasy Sports Characters The following is a list of characters you may encounter in Fantasy Sports Leagues. Use the characters to consider where you might fall on the list and answer the questions below. I’ve written this with masculine pronouns, but feel free to use whatever floats your boat. 1. The Commish: The guy who has created the … Continue reading Fantasy Sports Enneagram by William Klein
Author Andrew Klaven tells a story about Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter “playing through pain.” I’ll get to this in a minute, but first a little background on Klaven’s story. Klaven was raised a Jew and started studying the Gospels because he was interested in the literary quality of the stories. His father caught … Continue reading Playing Through Pain by William Klein
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