Getting on the elevator after a doctor’s appointment this week before Christmas, I was followed in by a young father and his little girl. The father was smiling.
As the doors closed and we started to move, the little girl looked up at me and asked, “What’s your name?” I told her mine and asked her the same and she told me hers. I glanced at the father, and he was smiling.
Continue reading “The Father Smiles”“What do you want for Christmas?” I used to be so eager to make a list when I was asked that question: toys, games, bicycles and balls –everything you’d expect. And then as I got older and on into adulthood, the wants evolved into clothing, electronics and gadgets. I quit presenting a list but would name a few things if asked. I’m slow to respond at all now because I don’t want anything.
“OK, then what do you need?” Alright, that’s a different question, and I do have some needs. Or do I? My needs are mostly “first-world needs” – things like a rubber cargo space protector for the new SUV or the latest smart phone upgrade. Those would be nice to have, but they’re conveniences and not real needs.
Continue reading “Wants and Needs”Sitting in a doctor’s waiting room this week, a flat-screen TV filled the room with noise from screams, bells and applause as a woman picked her way through silver briefcases of cash on “Deal or No Deal.” I looked around the room and nobody was watching. Instead, they were filling out forms on clipboards, scrolling on their phones and staring out the window. One person was dozing.
A few days earlier on Saturday, we sat in the stands at Baylor’s McLane Stadium, watching the last football game of the year. Between plays and in every other non-football moment, two college bands played, a stadium DJ pounded our heads with music, and the PA announcer shouted to the crowd to “stand up and make some noise.” That seemed redundant with the bands and DJs all playing and making noise at the same time.
Continue reading “Waiting in Silence”