Category: Uncategorized
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In Need of Aid 05: The Seed of An Idea
In August of this past year my oldest daughter and her husband went on a vacation trip out to the West Coast to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. They love hiking and spent much of that time visiting and hiking various trails in California, Oregon, and Washington. One of their first stops was at the…
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Notes Along the Journey 07: Time, Not Distance
I’ll be honest. I was a bit torn tonight when it came time to provide a title for this particular blog. On the one hand, this specific thought came about because of my current research emphasis on development aid and poverty alleviation. So, to that end, I thought it should be a part of my…
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In Need of Aid 04: Perspective
[NOTE: This blog is actually from a personal Facebook post that I originally shared on Saturday, Dec. 27th, 2025. I am (re)posting this here for my own future reference. For those who are reading this, the first half of the blog is from the original social media posting on my personal Facebook page. I have…
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Simple, But Useful
I’ll begin by providing the starting point for my own thoughts tonight. I say that because I’m not feeling particularly “clever” or creative at the moment. No catchy opening. No interesting analogy to use as a base for a profound lesson. Just a straightforward thought, but also a crucially personal one that grabbed me by…
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In Need of Aid 03: Agency and Responsibility
Some very personal musings regarding development aid and poverty alleviation on the “white board” called WordPress… (concluded with an equally personal reflection at the end of the blog) I am currently reading the book “Interventions” by Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN (1997-2006). I’ll be completely transparent…
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Random Thoughts: Bread and Fish
A collection of some of my daily, random thoughts from the “feeding of the 5,000” in John 6…
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In Need of Aid 02: My Own Indifference and Apathy
Notes to myself while reading (specifically from p. 130 of the book “Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty” by Thurow and Kilman)… 𝑨𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺 𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝑹𝑼𝑪𝑰𝑨𝑳… most people, myself included, really have no clue as to how much of the world lives out their existence on a daily basis. I know…
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In Need of Aid 01: The Essential “Why”
NOTE: Over the next few weeks, I plan to use this blogging site as a “whiteboard” to record some of my current thoughts and ponderings around “aid development and poverty alleviation.” I know. Exciting!!! In some cases, the focus will be on the specific challenges around aid, economic and social development, and humanitarian efforts directed…
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Tragedy Is Not The End
[NOTE: I first posted/published this way back in 2009 when I was blogging anonymously on a self-created page entitled “Just a Thought Devotionals.” The original blog appeared this morning on my Facebook “Memories” feed. Because it was always one of my personal favorites, I wanted to bring it over here to this site. Hope it…
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Notes Along the Journey 06: Harrison Ford
“𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙-𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒-𝑠𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡-𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟.” ~ author Garry Jenkins, describing the immediate aftermath of one of Harrison’s early and more promising acting gigs as Bob Falfa in American Graffiti (1973) I read and reread the section today about…