Daily writing prompt

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?

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Something changed the day we got married. Life was joyous but somehow more serious. Parenthood instills a sense of responsibility, and at various times during the years I was an employee of the church, I felt grown up and capable on occasion, especially at moments during certain services– weddings, funerals, etc., and always in the pulpit– or in certain settings, visiting people, the occasional counseling session.

I guess I don’t remember the first time I felt like a grown-up. It might have had something to do with being on my own, holding down a job, owning my first car– pedestrian stuff like that.

Now that the grandchildren are here, I’ve settled into the role of Silly Papa. Some sort of switch gets flipped when I’m around them. I figure I can leave the parenting to their parents, though offer some advice or a bit of discipline if it’s called for. Mostly it’s indulging them, feeding their curiosity, and trying to make them laugh.

Daily writing prompt

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to?

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I’d take half and split it among our children and spouses, to do with what they want. If for some reason they declined to take it, I would add this amount to the sum I would parcel out to Rails to Trails, to agencies and organizations who help alleviate world hunger and other forms of suffering (The ELCA is a worthy recipient), to organizations and companies who are researching advancements in renewable energy sources, and to local start-ups who need some seed money.

It would involve some research on my part.

Daily writing prompt

What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

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Sell our current house and buy a bigger property where I had room for a decent woodshop. I’m assuming that since this endeavor is guaranteed not to fail, such a big move would be feasible and meet with my wife’s approval. More space might make it easier for her to commit to growing her embroidery business. As it currently stands, we’re a bit cramped.

At this point in my life, that’s as bold as I can imagine.

Daily writing prompt

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?

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I’m not sure I’ve looked at life that way. Maybe unconsciously, but I’ve never considered myself a goal setter. There have been things I’ve done, and completed, but it’s never been that I’ve sat down and made a five-year plan or an itemized list and checked things off. It’s never felt like my life has been one long To Do list.

The biggest endeavor we undertook– as a family, though the kids probably wouldn’t describe it that way– was when we pulled up roots and moved to Gettysburg so I could go to seminary. The unstated or assumed goal– the mission– was to sustain and support ourselves along the way, and to complete the course of study, which we did. What followed for the next 26 years involved my unstated and, again, assumed purpose of being present for my family and the people of the congregations I served– a sometimes difficult balancing act.

Goal setting has always been sort of a mystery to me. My life has felt more Forrest Gump-like than anything done with intentionality and blinders on.

Daily writing prompt

Who are your favorite artists?

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Artist is a broad term. I’m not really familiar with many painters, except some of the titans– Caravaggio, Da Vinci, van Gogh, Monet, Michelangelo, etc.; American Gothic, by Grant Wood, and Banksy. Rodin and MIchelangelo come to mind, in terms of sculptors, and no architects besides Frank Lloyd Wright.

Musical artists make up a different category. I’m stuck in the 70s, mostly, so America, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Boston, Chicago, Judy Collins, the Eagles, early Elton John, Joni Mitchell, CSN&Y, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Carol King, Heart, Doobie Brothers, Earth, Wind and Fire, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, a bit of Clapton and a few Rolling Stones tunes, early Melissa Manchester; Bruce Hornsby, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Alanis Morissette, some big band stuff, Classical Gas by Mason Williams, Dave Brubeck, and Vince Guaraldi.

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

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I guess I know what I’d like it to be: woodworking. If I could, and it wouldn’t happen very often, I’d be in the shop from dawn ’til dusk, taking piles of unfinished wood and turning them into finely crafted products worthy of use, worthy of selling or giving as gifts. As I mentioned in a recent post, I’d love to be familiar with and well versed in the entire process– from choosing materials to designing or understanding procedures and plans and tricks of the trade, to knowing how to operate and use the different tools, to measuring, fitting, and finishing.

In reality, it’s probably looking around, taking things in, gazing at sunsets and the night sky and trying to get my head around the mysteries, contemplating an unfathomably large universe.

Daily writing prompt

What would you do if you lost all your possessions?

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I’ve often enough thought about that, for some reason. On the one hand, I imagine it being hard to handle, shocking, somehow unreal. I would miss the mementos the most– family photos, etc. On the other hand, I feel as though we could muddle through the self-pity and heartache with the help of family and friends, and we’d be OK, especially if it was an insurable loss. If for some reason it wasn’t, or it’s because the country has descended into civil war or been attacked by external threats, then it becomes something different.

Wow, I wasn’t thinking this would conclude by going there.

Daily writing prompt

What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?

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There was gradual movement from abhorrence to acceptance of homosexuality once I grew up a bit and looked around and met people who either were in a same sex relationship or who had children who were. The issue became no longer an issue, or evolved to have different foci.

The new issue that emerged, that took its place, involved my respect or reverence for Scripture, and religion in general. I came to understand that as beautiful and enriching as some of it was and continues to be, I’ve also come to realize that the Bible is a collection of different types of writing, compiled a long time ago by people who, apart from divine inspiration, were opining on topics that were beyond their understanding and levels of expertise, that their opinions were contextual, and that they were even shooting from the hip.

For the same reason that one doesn’t look for a recipe for Confit de Canard in a how-to manual on auto repair, one best look elsewhere for insights into human development and relationships in places besides Leviticus, or elsewhere in either the Old or New Testament.

Daily writing prompt

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

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I was dorky in high school, joined a frat in college even though I wasn’t really a frat person– I was just following a couple other guys I knew in the dorm where I lived, and didn’t know what to do with myself.

But I think what stands out for the purpose of this prompt are the 26 years I spent in the ministry, for a variety of reasons– my heart was rarely in it, I always had doubts, and I seldom felt qualified to contribute to the conversation when we got together in various collegial settings. More often than not, I felt like a stranger in a strange land.

Daily writing prompt

Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

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It looks like having to scramble, a bit of thumb twiddling, and searching the memory banks for what I used to do before I could reach for the iPad or sit in front of the desktop.

No more easy ordering off of Amazon, no YouTube clips, no Chat GPT queries, no Wikipedia look-ups, no quick news updates. No more world at one’s fingertips.

It means giving the library card a workout. It means making a To Do list. It means maybe sitting in front of the piano a bit more often, or dusting off the guitar and finally developing some callouses. Maybe it means going outside and being less sedentary. It might mean having to brush up on conversation skills.

I’d consider it a step backwards, though, because for all the lip people of a certain mindset give it, when one moves beyond the stock complaint about it being a distraction, I consider the computer and most of what it has brought an advancement– a marvelous, (r)evolutionary innovation that can make one’s life easier and better. And if the attendant technology was gone with it, then maybe we’d have to say goodbye to safer air travel, healthcare innovations and charting, the smart TV, GPS, and even my Golf Buddy.

Life without a computer would be a return to some sort of Dark Ages.