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Stoic Virtues: The Courage to Decide
Most of us think courage looks like pushing forward, fighting, and refusing to give in. But sometimes courage takes a quieter form. Sometimes it shows up not as effort, but as clarity, not as resistance, but as resolve.
During my mother’s final hospital stay, she listened patiently as doctors talked about rehab and recovery. After they left, she said calmly, “I’m just done.” She wasn’t asking for permission or advice. She was stating a decision shaped by a lifetime of endurance. A woman raised in scarcity. A woman who carried family responsibility without complaint. A woman who knew the difference between fear, despair, and judgment.
In this essay, I reflect on what her final decision taught me about courage. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, scripture, and lived experience, I explore courage not as bravado, but as alignment. Not as clinging, but as choosing without illusion. If you’ve ever wondered what courage really looks like when life stops negotiating, I invite you to read more.
Politics
All the hot-button topics about government, state, local, and federal the courts, and the election.
This Is What You Bought With Your Vote
Millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2024, believing he would deliver for farmers, the working class, retirees, and the forgotten small towns. But as his administration’s policies take shape, those same groups are paying the price. Hospitals are closing across rural America. Farmers are watching debts rise as export markets disappear. Working-class families face climbing health costs. Retirees are seeing threats to the Social Security and Medicare benefits they worked their lives to earn.
This essay traces the immediate fallout of those choices, showing how the policies now harming these voters were exactly what Trump promised to do. It’s not betrayal. It’s follow-through. The question is whether Americans are ready to face the consequences of what their ballots actually bought.
Science
This includes discussions on scientific topics that include the environment, weather, medicine, and space.
Society
We lump a lot under this category including crime, corruption, education and hate groups. This category runs the gamut.
Culture
Posts on cultural activities such as theater, art, holidays, and music.
Religion
This is our section for articles related to religion, especially Methodism, and the Evangelical movement.
The View from Above
I walked the hospital garden and followed the path of grace. At the end a bronze plaque carried lines from Psalms nine and ten. Refuge for the oppressed. God hears the afflicted. The metal was warm under my hand. Nothing was fixed. Yet something in me settled enough to breathe.
The Stoics call it the View from Above. Rise in your mind. See the room, the floor, the building, the town, the small blue world. The pain stays real, but it finds its size. From there the next right act appears. Ask a clear question. Hold a hand. Eat. Pray. Sleep if you can. The practice pairs with the dichotomy of control and with evening reflection. It opens the frame, then helps you learn from the day.
Tomorrow I head to Boone while my sister and a caregiver sit with Mom. Those mountains have taught me to climb, look, and return. The Wesleyan way names that rhythm as grace. Action without contemplation is unrooted. Contemplation without action is inconsequential. In a brittle season for our republic, this practice steadies my voice and keeps my heart useful.
Technology
Discussions on software, hardware, apps, and gadgets.
LGBT Issues
Here we discuss the politics of the LGBT movement, stories of events in the community, and anything else related to the LGBT community.
Fun Stuff
This is a bit of a collection of stories about family, food, friends, and travel.
The Economy
Here are topics on the economy, trade, and business.
No Longer as Predators, But as Pilgrims
In the wake of a cruel and deeply unjust budget bill passed by the U.S. Congress, I feel compelled to speak out—not just as a citizen, but as a Christian, a United Methodist, and someone at retirement age who will soon depend on the very programs now under attack. This essay is a moral response to a political failure. It is a call to conscience. We are not meant to live as predators. We are meant to walk together, as pilgrims.
Election 2024 – Hope for Better is All I’ve Got
One of the most frustrating aspects of this election has been watching Republicans continuously out-message Democrats. The GOP has mastered the art of stirring up fear and resentment, delivering simple but powerful narratives that resonate deeply. Instead of speaking to unity and progress, they speak directly to anxieties and frustrations, offering voters someone to blame for every challenge and setback.
Marva Johnson-Spectrum Douche Bag of the Day
Marva Johnson. Here’s a name you may not know, but you’d better learn who she is, and what here (and apparently her employer’s) agenda is for public education. She also is chair of the Florida State Board of Education, appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014. In addition, In March, the governor appointed her to the 37-member statewide Constitutional Revision Commission.
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Articles related to places important to me or the places we visit.
Media
Covers things like the web, blogging, Radio and television, and print media.
Places
Here we talk about topics specific to Tampa, Kings Mountain, and other places I've lived or visited.
