This is a collection of modest observations, frivolous musings, serious thought, and personal experience.I am not an intellectual, but I do think about things. I think about people, nature, and politics. I think about cultural trends, and belief systems. I think about human nature. I think about good and evil, and I think about God. I think about the future. I think about the past, and how it relates to, and influences, the future. I think about life and death. I think about my own life, how it affects, and is affected by, the people, and the world, around me.These pieces were written between May, 2007, and January, 2013. My reasoning is fluid, and not written in stone. But it is meant to challenge belief systems, and inspire critical thinking. If it serves that purpose, I am satisfied. To facilitate ease of finding individual titles they are presented here in alphabetical, rather than chronological order. I have not intended for this collection to be read as one would read a novel, but, rather, in small portions to allow time to digest the rationale, to let it settle, and to allow your internal response to be whatever emerges from that process.Read the entries in the order in which they appear if you like, or pick and choose them at random. It doesn%u2019t really matter.What does matter is that you not embrace, or reject, the entirety of the work based solely on your agreement, or disagreement, with a few of the entries. Although it is what our culture tends to encourage these days, it would, ultimately, be a disservice to both of us. A selection from the book:"If I had only one day left to live I%u2019d probably take a quiet walk in the woods, below the snow line, but above the timberline. I%u2019d follow an old path along a living creek as it made its way over rich earth, across ancient ground, through granite rock, spilling softly out into a generous meadow; a missing piece of heaven, standing still, glistening in the ear