When I was a wee lad, about five years old, my favorite toy was Doggie, a cuddly-soft stuffed animal. This little guy had floppy cloth ears and black button eyes. I played with him during the day and held him tight every night as I drifted off to sleep. Doggie got a lot of my playtime and love, so much so that his fur eventually became worn, an eye was lost, and all the leg stuffing was squeezed down into four very large paws. But it didn’t matter, Doggie was my favorite toy. If he lived in the same world as the toys in Pixar’s three Toy Story films, Doggie…
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Remembering the past puts joy and gratitude in the present
The children are home from college this week to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and some needed time off from their studies. Our house, which is spacious while they are away at college, is one again crowded and noisy. I love it. Don’t get me wrong, my wife and I enjoy living in an “empty nest” during the school year. Our conversations are longer and better, the remote control is right where I left it, the chocolate milk lasts more than a day, things like that. But there are times when I wish I could go back in time about fifteen years, just for a weekend. I’d love to hear three grade…
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It takes strong faith and a sincere heart to cheer for the Cubs
Two weeks ago (in 2007) I was at Wrigley Field in Chicago, watching the Cubs beat the Pirates and step toward the playoffs. As I drove home, I imagined conversations that might be heard if a Chicago sports talk program aired on a religious radio station. Good morning, this is Father Michael Patrick O’Connor talking to you live from our studio and devotional chapel on Waveland Avenue, overlooking the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. Go ahead, caller, you’re on the air. Caller 1: Hello Father Michael, it’s Cathy from Elgin. I have been a Cub fan all my life, but some of my friends have lost faith in the Cubbies.…
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Baseball delivers strong personal & family values
“I believe in the church of baseball.” – Bull Durham You can learn a lot through baseball. I don’t mean the easy stuff, such as wrapping a rubber band around your well-oiled glove with a ball inside and placing it under your mattress all night to break it in; or never putting your favorite Mickey Mantle baseball card in the spokes of your bicycle. Save that noisy and destructive place for a Dick Tracewski or a Clete Boyer. I mean the hard stuff – the life values that many people spend their whole lives trying to understand. If they had only played baseball, they would have quickly learned how to……
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Spend the most time on what matters the most
“If I were a rich man…” – Sung by Tevye in The Fiddler on the Roof A couple of years ago, before Tennesseans could buy lottery tickets at the corner store, I drove to Kentucky to buy Powerball tickets. I think I spent five dollars on tickets and probably more on gas. But in the category of “entertainment dollars,” this money was well spent. During the drive up and back to Nashville, I daydreamed about what I would do with one hundred million dollars. It was like the scene in The Fiddler on the Roof in which Tevye has a conversation with God. He imagines what life in their small…
