Stories & Blogs
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 26, 2023
** I was granted a Master of Theology in May of 1970. I was well prepared to interpret the historical and cultural context of the Bible and to encourage and support a faith experience. Missing in that training were best practices in growing healthy, healing, sustaining organizations, recruiting/training board members, personnel issues, reading financial statements…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 19, 2023
** I am sharing with SL readers a partial list of my favorite sustaining words and phrases: Seeking common ground….Servant Leadership….To Hope, to Care anyway…To be a Witness….To show Mercy and to give Grace….Mystical & Magical…To Create…Never go away…Being present…Listening…Being a Neighbor…I can roller skate in a buffalo herd (Roger Williams)…More words next SL **…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 12, 2023
** Anyone who lives in an urban area can be approached by a panhandler at an intersection. Arlington, TX has taken a unique approach to signage at these same intersections. “It’s OK to say no to panhandlers.” ** Imagine connecting with a friend not seen or known about since 1965. (And yes, I realize there…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for March 5, 2023
** News Movement is a new, developing online news service for young people. The average age of their reporters is 25. News sources include Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. Traditional 5:30 pm network news ads have aged into dentures, and medications. ** National and state news this week was more about who to exclude,…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 26, 2023
** Beth and I replaced our 10 yr. old IPhone 7’s with IPhone 12’s. The technology changes are a challenge for me, the slower “to get it” of the two. ** From President Jimmy Carter, age 98: “America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, human rights invented America. “ ** Following…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 19, 2023
** Most of us know the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl. What you may not have noticed is the back of their helmets. Many players have messages of hope. Several I noticed are: Inspire Stop Hate Together Seek Love Imagine Unity ** From my current morning Fiction: “Give me coffee to change the…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 12, 2023
** I recently had the opportunity to talk with two nonprofit Exec. Directors, one in-person in Amarillo and one by cell in Santa Fe. We three are always interested in the best, most effective way to lead an agency or direct a program. Our question as we talked was about our leadership style when: 1)…
ROY’S SUNDAY LETTER FOR FEBRUARY 5, 2023
It is now Saturday evening, and we are home from a week in Amarillo. Beth and I left FW on Monday morning 9:30 just before sleet and freezing rain shut down Dallas/Ft Worth and then moved down to Austin. We drove through sleet and frozen rain for 3.5 hours before clearer roads and weather on…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 29, 2023
** Beth and I will be in Amarillo this week. Beth and Tricia (her LPC partner) began The Hope & Healing Place, A Grief & Loss Center for Children and Families. The HHP board and staff are recognizing 20 years of the HHP mission and services with grieving families. 20 years doesn’t seem possible…Hope &…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 22, 2023
** David Crosby, 81, is singing in a different choir or rock group now. Crosby was one who’s music raised me up. Not an easy life, but a good one. David, I will always hear you in my heart and spirit. Is there someone you will always hear, who helped “raise you up?” ** Brad…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for February 2, 2025
BEING A SENIOR IN 2025 AMERICA I recently completed a story of seniors having lunch at separate tables at Mary’s Grill. Tables were needed to serve waiting families, friends, and office workers. The seniors order lunch Specials and leave small, if any tips. Since Mary’s is a friendly place, for several seniors it is not…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 26, 2025
Friends and friendship join Joy, Kindness, and Peaceful Living on life’s wheel. As I talk with and meet people or on a social platform, I listen to the challenges of making new friends, going deeper with a current friendship, or losing friends through aging, health, or relocation. There is a touch of spirits unique to…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 19, 2025
I began, we began, seeing video of the Pacific Palisades hillside fire and the push of Santa Ana winds on January 7. Today, 12,000 homes have burned with thousands displaced and at-risk for dreams, hopes, and memories to be lost somewhere in the sudden need to flee. Some with a “Go Bag,” others only a…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 12, 2025
INSIGHT ON WRITING PRAYERS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY Prayers and Other Notes: There are two mentors I consider personal heroes. The first, my grandfather, who left his east Texas tractor each Friday afternoon then entering a small hut on the side of the barn. He would use two stiff fingers from repairing too many…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for January 5, 2025
Thoughts on Mentors and Mentoring Most of us, whatever age, gender, and background, have become who we are through family, education, and life experiences. In addition, many of us have received guidance and support from one or more mentors. And now, perhaps from our own experiences and elderhood, we can provide the “pay it forward”…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 29, 2024
Reflections – Calendars & Seasons of the Year Most of us look at our calendars often, whether iPad, laptop, watch, or one of the traditional paper calendars. Calendars add details to our comings and goings of dates, times, events, and people. My paper calendar helps my elder memory with notes of birthdays, phone numbers, anniversaries…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 22, 2024
REFLECTIONS – CHRISTMAS 2024 Most of us live days somewhere between the inspiring restoration of the Norte Dame Cathedral and the heritage story of the birth of a child, a humble manger in a faraway village, pilgrim parents, and travel weary shepherds. In the midst of the annual seasonal blur, we each have an opportunity…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 15, 2024
** The numbers and the reasons for the decline in church attendance are well documented. Although the percentage of Americans who have de-churched has grown, the desire of the American public to find and experience a church like community has also grown. These new assemblies and communities tend to be cause centered, with a focus…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 8, 2024
** In Paris, Norte Dame has been fully restored from a destructive fire five years ago. Artists and craft persons used historic and new materials throughout the restoration. The language changed from artist/craft persons to Companions, expressing the ownership felt by all committed to returning Norte Dame to France and the world with awe and…
Roy’s Sunday Letter for December 1, 2024
The arrival of Thanksgiving and the coming Christmas season brings the mix of memories, some warm and life-giving, others more difficult. A seasonal truth, for me, would be that both seasons are best experienced and enjoyed in the company of family and friends. Receptions, open houses and dinners are opportunities to tell and listen to…