On The Road With Denny D

Be real. I'd love to see life as gentle ripples but the truth is, (I don't want to admit it) I know sometimes I make waves. Instead of skipping stones; I throw boulders. I have stood on the shoreline of my life. The reflection looking up is an unrecognizable face. Im looking down trying to find ways to smooth out the surface but the waves are crashing in. My feet are sinking in the wet sand. I stand naked before God and ask, Who am I? The answer comes in a whisper: I am like all God's children: I am chosen. I am alive. I am here. I am blessed. I am called to love and to be an example of God's love. I am human and therefore, not perfect. But I will try to aleast be kind to others and to find a way to be kind to myself. I don't wish to be understood but to be given a chance to be me. I don't wish to be judged but I know that escaping judgment is a waste of my energy. Instead I will have courage against hate, encouraged by love.  I have come to the wate...

The lake. A cedarstrip canoe floats on the tea stained waterway known as Wistawasing aka wassi lake. Two brothers paddle effortlessly toward the island across the way. The morning sun is hovering just above the horizon, illuminating a path on a mirror-smooth lake. The only conversation is that of paddles entering and leaving the surface. We are both lost in thought or maybe a silent prayer.  I think of that lake often and when I think of him. We were young, alive and had all the time in the world. We didn't know how little time we had. Who would be first or who would be last was always decided on the races we run, not life and death.  I go back to the lake, to a huge rock on the shore. The place where I received lectures every time I saw my brother. I was older than he, I should have been giving them instead of receiving them. Old doesn't mean wise. He asked me the same question “What are you going to do with your life?” I never could give him an answer because I didn't k...

A note to friend in Christ. I believe the house of God has many windows and many doors. Sometimes we walk in, sometimes we walk out. Sometimes we just walk away. But the windows are always open just enough to let a little light in. Sometimes we need to tip-toe and look inside once again. I looked in and there you were. I was surfing the net, to be truthful doom scrolling. Luckily, for me I saw Father James Martin SJ,  on Stephen Colbert. A spark ignited in me to share the following story. My partner is a practicing Catholic and he goes to church every Saturday night. I am more of an east meets west kind of guy. Imagine Jesus and Buddha at a bar.  I'm the bartender and I don't know who to serve first.  I have only been out since my sixtieth birthday. It was during the time of the pandemic. I was divorced and laid off. I could have easily spiraled out of control. The good news; I lost a job I hated, and I had time to write, think, walk and pray. I eventually sta...