Journeys with Johnny

I recently started a blog post, that when posted, would be titled “Another Civil War?”  In it I would detail how our current administration, by creating chaos, uncertainty and divisiveness through dangerous rhetoric, propaganda, and intimidation tactics using what can now only be called a paramilitary force could lead to something that might look like a civil war.  I would recall a conversation with one of my European friends before the 2024 election where he would mention a possible civil war if Trump lost, and I rolling my eyes in disbelief.  I am no longer rolling my eyes. In the blog I would recall previous “civil wars” in our country,…

When mom left dad for good during the spring of 1971, we literally fled to Louisa County, Virginia, where I had been born ten years earlier. The year 1971 was a difficult year for me.  And it was a difficult year for our country. The Vietnam War was escalating with U.S. troops invading Cambodia, sparking protests. During one of these protests, National Guard troops kill four students at Kent State University. Race relations were strained, to say the least, with two Black students being killed by police at Jackson State University. And the Attica Prison riot ended in bloodshed.  But not all was bad that year.  The voting age got…

WARNING – DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE ABOUT ANIMALS Events in our lives shape our reality, emotions and moral framework. When the groundhogs invaded our farm several years ago, I had mixed emotions. When a few showed up in our back yard we thought they were harmless and cute. And the AirB&B guests who stayed at the farm enjoyed watching them. But multiple holes began to appear in the yard, the adjoining pasture, and even under the foundation of our farmhouse, creating a safety hazard to cows and guests alike.  So, we made the difficult decision to exterminate them. But as I showed up one morning to check on…

As 2025 fades into our rearview mirror and we look forward with hopeful anticipation to what 2026 will bring, I offer up the following advice. Bring more awe and wonder into your life. Because our grandchildren’s parents were working on New Years Eve, Elizabeth and I were asked to watch our grandchildren yesterday morning. So, we left our house at the lake at 6:30 a.m. to drive to their house an hour away near Charlottesville. As a result, Elizabeth and I had “the opportunity” to spend the morning of New Years Eve alone with our grandchildren, James and Elizabeth.  Looking back, spending time with James and Elizabeth on New Years…

At our annual Christmas dinner with dear friends from our old neighborhood, we eventually get around to giving updates on our children. Our oldest son Davis is a second year head basketball coach at Monticello High School. And I did a little bragging on him in two ways.  First, he led Monticello to its best season ever during his first year as head basketball coach. But secondly, and more important to me is his approach to coaching. And as I told our friends, I am not even sure he would articulate it the way I would. I described it as follows. He is first and foremost a mentor. He is then…

Today, always a Thursday, is a day to treasure.  It is a day to slow down, spend time with family and friends, and to give thanks. But I am not sure we fully embrace this day’s essential meaning. And a note I received today from one of my friends relaying his recent experience visiting some “favelas” in Northern Brazil made me think about this even more. We all know the story of the native Americans and pilgrims sitting down together for the first Thanksgiving meal in a land that would one day become a part of the United States. However, the annual thanksgiving holiday tradition in what would become the…

Today’s posting may seem like a collection of random thoughts – and in a way, it is.  I write these postings as material for a future book (if it ever gets written), but also as self-therapy.  In fact, I recently responded to the following question on the Mennonite Health Assembly Association Website, “What have you learned about yourself during the past year?”, with the following:                   “I have learned that I need to write – not for others, but for myself. By organizing my thoughts that I share with others, it forces me to create a lucid narrative that helps me to understand why I hold certain world views. And…