Perseverance In my newsletter about patience, I briefly mentioned the concept of perseverance; however, I’d like to further define and investigate the idea of perseverance in more detail. To my mind, it is more than patience or even faith. Instead it is the tenacity to stay with some goal or belief with such determination that nothing can convince me to give up. Whether it’s following through with something like education, personal achievement or it’s my belief in God, nothing can cause me to...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Practicing Gratitude Because of various health issues and career challenges, I have often asked God for help. Always, in one way or another, God has answered my sincere prayers and longings, one way or another. Unfortunately, when God’s grace leads me to the next step in my life, I usually fail to look back and appreciate what God has done for me. Whether it’s helping me mentally, physically or spiritually or leading me to a job or relationship, I soon forget it was He who brought the needed...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Booksie.com Despite my best efforts, I’ve never been able to make much money from selling my writing. Once, at Western Illinois University, I won a short story contest and received fifty dollars, but that’s been about it. A long time ago I had a number of my poems published by Salesian Missions. They were put in little booklets and were published worldwide, but I only received free copies of the books. However, I still really wanted my writing to be read by as many people as possible because...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Star Trek and the Wrath of John Since most of my newsletters tend to be serious, I thought I’d include a humorous one. In my book, The Comedy of Everyday Life, I have a chapter about the television show Star Trek. The setting of the story is an imaginary support group for spouses of Star Trek enthusiasts. To this day, my wife, Donna, still loves the show, so the story is still relevant. Hello, my name is John, and my wife is addicted to Star Trek. … (“Hi, John!”) My wife’s problem initially...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hospitals: For Better or Worse About a year and a half ago, I had significant health issues, but I decided not to write much about them. Then I was hospitalized again a few month s ago. Meanwhile, last week I was complaining to a friend that I didn’t have much to write about and he replied, “You could write about your hospital stays in your newsletter.” Because of my friend’s suggestion I’ve decided to write about my experiences. I’ll try to be objective as I can and forgo anything that is...
3 months ago • 3 min read
My New Poetry Collection It finally happened! After almost eight months of waiting, my new book, Poems of Faith, Hope and Love has been published by Parousia Magazine. It is the largest publisher of Christian poetry in Africa and it almost always publishes chapbooks of about fifty poems. However, the publisher liked all of my one hundred poems so much; they published all one hundred poems that I submitted as a poetry collection. Based on poems I’ve written last year (2024), they represent the...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Passing through the Dream Today I’d like to write about my book of original sayings (aphorisms) called Passing through the Dream. The book is divided into one hundred brief chapters that elaborate on a specific philosophical point. For example my chapter called, “Change Won’t Wait,” describes the nature of change and its effects on the human condition. Another chapter called, “Writing into God,” describes the writing process as it relates to the divine. Each chapter is also composed of...
4 months ago • 2 min read
The Potter’s Wheel There is a very old metaphor about God and his relationship to his children. This metaphor can be described as the potter’s wheel being the world, God as the potter, and individuals being the clay - body, mind, and soul. In other words, God is the artisan that shapes the lives of all us on the wheel of life. This wheel consistently revolves and transforms the clay into works of art that are both beautiful and useful. I found two Biblical references to this potter’s wheel in...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Publishing Blues When I attended Western Illinois University, I won first prize in a short story contest and second place in a poetry competition. Since I loved writing, I secretly decided to become a writer as a career. I even created a fantasy about me publishing novels and becoming famous and wealthy. How naïve I was back then! It turns out that it is very difficult to get published and making money, for me, has been nearly impossible. Even if my creative writing does get published for...
5 months ago • 3 min read