April 25, 2020
GROWING EDGES
In May of 1979, I began writing a weekly column for the San Angelo Standard Times. From that time until the last column in January of this year, 2020, I didn’t miss a week. Writing the column each week became part of my routine and my weekly discipline, and it provided a wonderful connection with friends through West Texas. I met people I would never have known before, and I treasure those friendships that are across three generations.
The purpose of the column stayed constant through almost 41 years, and that was to take an everyday occurrence and meander around it to understand it and allow it to become an inspiration for personal growth. My belief is that the more personal something is, the more universal it is, and so I became acutely aware of those ordinary incidents that in my life or others’ were either troubling or painful, joyful or lovely, life-affirming or discouraging, and called them “growing edges”. A growing edge, as I define it, is a part of your life that is unfinished or incomplete, inadequate or confusing. On the other hand, something new and different in your life can also be a growing edge — a new relationship, a career change, a new baby or an exciting trip A growing edge is where you have the opportunity to …well, grow — mentally, emotionally, spiritually or relationally.
My own spiritual and religious life is deeply meaningful and important to me, but in this column my intention has been constant, and that was to communicate a spiritual truth in secular language that would not be confined by my particular chosen faith. While some were critical of my not using the column as a forum for my own religious faith persuasion, I stayed constant in my desire to reach out to people of all faiths or political positions. At Christmas and during the Easter season, I sometimes have used my own faith-of-choice to inspire a column, but hopefully, I have made the column broad enough that it still contains a truth that can transcend religious differences. It has been my great joy that some of my most faithful fans are from faiths different from mine.
Over the years, I worked with many wonderful editors and publishers. Last December I learned that the group that had most recently bought the San Angelo Standard Times in San Angelo, Texas, had decided to stop paying all freelance writers to deal with their own financial difficulties. Sadly, that decision included me, but with the encouragement of others to write the column on my website, I begin again in this forum.
With this terrible pandemic, not only will all of us have many different growing edges, but for this season, each of us needs to keep hope alive.
My friends, I hope that what I write here each week will shine the light on the possibility, promise, and potential that is hidden in the middle of every problem and challenge. I hope we will be friends. And for this season, my intention is to encourage hope.
So, the launching of Keeping Hope Alive begins on the next page — .
Keeping Hope Alive 1
Week 6 of Sheltering at Home
My five-year-old grandson announced to his mom during Week 1 of his stay-at-home schooling that he would like to go on a field trip to the Mayborn museum in Waco.
When told that the museum was closed like his preschool was closed, his brow furrowed as he pondered the dilemma. “Do they have germs, too?” he asked. It is hard to observe disillusionment and lost innocence in my children and grandchildren. Frankly, I still don’t find it easy to have my own illusions shattered, but once that happens, I can see better. Without illusions, I can make more informed choices.
I could never have imagined the horrors of this corona virus. I could never have imagined the confusion and contradictions that would emerge, adding to the pain of suffering and loss. Perhaps it was naivete that made it hard for me to imagine pandemic – especially in my country! Read more