The Black Hole

Deep inside of me there is a black hole. It is a malevolent mass of pure evil. Were it to be freed, I might be capable of doing unthinkable things. Usually, it is under wraps. It is buried so deeply in my psyche, that under normal circumstances, I cannot even access it. But under prolonged […]

The Long Slog

Most days, VACTERL is just a pain in the ass. It’s just time consuming and it wastes your child’s time, your time and family time. There is a checklist of tasks that you must worry about every day, which normal families take for granted. But over time any set of tasks can become routine to […]

The Swinger

When my son was first born, I was on the cusp of going into the ministry. Because I was quasi clergy, I felt that I had to put a positive spin on everything. I said obnoxious things like, “thank God this happened to us. We have the resources and a strong relationship. We can deal […]

The Winter of My Discontent

VACTERL occasionally gives you a little break. Though you may have an onerous lists of tasks required to keep your child happy and healthy, you get into an offbeat rhythm that mimics normal life. You find a place of serenity and you think that you have beaten back the deadly predators. But really you are […]

I’d rather laugh with the sinners, than cry with the saints

The older I get the more I think that I may not be compatible with heaven. It is most assuredly not for a lack of information. I have heard about heaven and hell for all of my life. I have spend most of my life surrounded by people that knew beyond a shadow of a […]

Now is the winter of our…

Discontent For those of you who have followed by blog over the years, I sincerely apologize if I have caused you metaphysical whiplash. But here I go again. I have been thinking a lot about the book Naked Spirituality again, specifically winter. I won’t bore you with my substandard summary. But I will say that […]

Good is the new awful

Forgive me FSP, for I have not blogged. My job has been kicking my butt of late. But it pays the bills, so I cannot complain too much. But I have been coming home completely drained of creative energy. Thus my blog has suffered. So I am getting back on the horse today. It is […]

Afterlife Lotto

I admit it. I bought 4 Mega Millions tickets. I got 2 for the Wednesday drawing and 2 for the Friday. “But Ben, why would you throw away 4 perfectly good dollars.” Two reasons: 1. There is not much risk on the front end. I will not miss $4. 2. The potential rewards are freakishly […]

Legacy Code

I had my Imagine meeting this morning. It was our second to the last meeting. Not sure what comes next, but I’m open to possibilities. We are reading the book Naked Spirituality by Brian McLaren. I had procrastinated all week and as of noon yesterday, I had not read the second half of the book […]

Resistance is Futile

Bad metaphor #43282.5 When I was a kid, I used to go camping several times a year. We would always camp near a lake or a river. I loved the water. I am a confident swimmer and it was a great way to cool off in the summer. I also loved to fish. I was […]