A Beacon of Light

“The Postal Service exists to serve every American, regardless of where you live or what you believe.”  Conor Lamb It’s not unusual for me to hear people complain about the postal service. Some complain that their mail is delivered too late in the afternoon. It’s true that mail occasionally gets delivered to the wrong address. The cost of…

“For those of you in the cheap seats, clap your hands to this one; the rest of you can just rattle your jewelry.”  John Lennon I was in San Francisco for the Summer of Love in 1967. Somehow, I missed it. I lived with my family in the Sunset, not far from the San Francisco…

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped-up in each other.”Burton Hillis The 2023 holiday season is right around the corner. Retail outlets are elaborately adorned with Halloween, Thanksgiving and, yes, even Christmas decorations. One of the greatest challenges each year is to find an appropriate Christmas gift for…

A friend shared this with me today. It is too well-written for me not to share with you. The following are the words of Pope Francis. They are powerful. They are hopeful. They are enlightening. Please take your time and read this piece slowly. • • • You can be flawed, anxious and sometimes irritated,…

“I can walk down the  streets of San Francisco,  and here I’m normal.”Robin Williams With all due respect, it’s not San Fran, and it’s most definitely not Frisco. San Francisco is The City — with a capital T and capital C. This is something with which all native San Franciscans can agree. In fact, there…

“Students don’t care   how much you know   until they know   how much you care.” John C. Maxwell In my early days of teaching, I attended a professional development presentation by Dr. Eleanor Brown at which she spoke these prophetic words (paraphrased): If you are someone who needs immediate positive feedback from your…

“And all at once,  summer collapsed  into fall.” Oscar Wilde If there is any such thing as a perfect day, today was it. It’s Sunday, October 1, 2023. The cool, crisp morning air gave way to a delightfully pleasant autumn afternoon. The sun was bright, the air was clear, and I had nothing in particular…

“Decision making is easy when your values are clear.” Roy Disney It’s been 25 years since I made an unpopular decision I’ll never regret. In late spring 1998, I was asked by Ron Modeste, the principal at Saint Lawrence Academy, to step into the role of Athletic Director. The previous AD, who was also our head football…

“Faith consists in believing  when it is beyond the power of reason  to believe.”Voltaire I was reading a book recently when I came across a word with which I was unfamiliar: pertinacity. Of course, I referred to a dictionary for the meaning of the word: a quality of sticking with something, no matter what. Pertinacity…

“It’s not what we have in life,  but who we have in our life  that matters.” ~ Unknown I first saw Michael on the San Francisco Muni bus on my way to school during my freshman year in high school. He climbed aboard each morning with his school books and his clarinet case. He was…