To Be Known
I recently drove 1,000 miles through a biblical rainstorm just to hear someone say my name. See, unlike Brad Pitt, when I show up to most places they usually don’t know who I am. I know I am not alone in this cloak of anonymity. In primary school there was a roll call, and we…
On 10 Years of Marriage
You can talk as much as you want about soaking in an ice bath, but there’s nothing quite like the dick-shriveling experience of actually doing it. Some things you just have to do in order to understand. That’s what I wanted to tell the church when they asked us to mentor young engaged couples. Being…
A Toast to “And Sons”
I recently listened to and savored the final episode of the And Sons podcast. I’ve listened to every one of the 242 episodes, and several of them many times over just to suck the marrow from the bone. While obviously a major achievement for Sam and Blaine, it also signified something monumental for me as…
The Cause for Santa Claus
Every year, just like you and I, my children get older. And each year that passes they become smarter and more aware. And each year at Christmas the topic of Santa comes into play. Of course the songs about eight tiny reindeer and a certain amorous red-suited man kissing someone’s mother plays on the radio.…
The Redwoods are Calling
Folks- wanted to share a nostalgic throwback from years ago when we lived in Colorado. It is an article that speaks to the Spirit of things that are Old Soul in nature. Enjoy! Burnout. A recent conversation with my supervisor in the social work field unearthed just what was going on underneath my surface. I…
Armbars and Answered Questions
I spend $80 a month to get choked out between another man’s thighs. And I like it. Yes, you guessed it- I am a newly minted member of a local jiu jitsu gym. No, I’m not a former Navy SEAL, and I never wrestled in high school. I don’t watch UFC and I haven’t been…
One Year Later
Grief is like dorm room ramen– it comes in many different varieties, and it always sucks. Like cheap noodles, when grieving life feels cheap and bland, and you just muscle through it. Those who experience grief may be surprised by the range of emotions they feel: anger, convulsive sobbing, relief, cynicism. In my own experience,…
Tribute to the Bearded COVID Man
Here’s to you Mr. Bearded COVID Man. Yes, I’m talking to you with your coiffed mane and handlebar moustache. It’s taken years to cultivate, and now is martyred beneath a fabric cloth of heroism. Here’s to you Mr. Bearded COVID Man, with chops sprawling out of a surgical mask. I see you scrambling to locate…
A Beauty That Hurts
Have you ever witnessed something so profoundly beautiful that it actually wounds you? A holy moment so breathtaking that you want to simultaneously pause it forever, as well as fast forward through it, because it’s just simply too much to take in? These are the times where the boundary between Heaven and Earth seems to…
The Longing
We’ve all felt it. Or at least those of us open to the movements of our hearts have felt it. That deep, heavy ache that sits like a 500-pound gorilla on your soul. I call it, “The Longing”. I remember the first time I felt The Longing. I had recently finished college, which has a…
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Ben Richardson Writes 