Short Story: The Spice of Life… In a Small Town

[Published in Life Will Surprise You in the End (2014).]

The Spice of Life… In a Small Town

It started as an inconsequential, even trivial, comment. Ray and Jolynn Anderson were spending a little time on their porch swing. They liked to swing and talk like this several times a week – just swinging and talking about this and that – several times a day when the weather was fine and nothing needed tending. They would wave to any neighbors who walked or drove by and then they would talk about their neighbors too. Today, they were killing a little time until Jolynn’s usual appointment for a check up with Dr. Madison.

Life in small town Kansas could be demanding in the way that milking cows or taking out the trash or going to church was demanding. There were just things that you had to do regularly and do just-so. And if you didn’t, then somebody would roll their eyes and then, if you still didn’t get on the ball, you started hearing about it. Ray hated it when Miss Bessie, the cow, Mrs. Anderson, his wife, or Pieter Wojicke, the Pastor, rolled their eyes.

Life could also be demanding in the way that a tornado or a wedding or

Essay: Why Everybody (except angry white males) Should Vote Democratic

Why Everybody (except angry white males) Should Vote Democratic

This was written in the spring of 2012 - The names have changed, but the sentiments are worth running up the flag pole again.

 

I don’t begrudge “Tea Party” sympathizers their frustrated state of mind. Times are hard and they have been getting harder for the last several decades – along with the pace of change. Everybody is struggling and unhappy. But, this is not a good time to seriously think that we can go back to family farms and small-shop manufacturing. Neither is it helpful to start arming yourself because your President is black, some of your neighbors speak Spanish or Vietnamese, or some Muslims are building a place of worship. Really, just what are you planning to do with all of that firepower?

We rescued a small dog a while back. We knew that the dog would eventually quit trying to jump on the cats and that the cats would quit hissing at her – but the critters only knew that they were anxious and confused right now. One kitty wouldn’t come out of the laundry room for several days. They will never be great friends but they can now nap all together without making a fuss. My point is that we humans ought to be able to do even better.
The Democratic Party represents the best long-term interests of the majority of U.S. citizens. Even if you don’t like their attitude, diversity, or permissiveness, a Republican vote, this year, is against your best interests. Most angry white males are in their own tightly self-constructed world. You can love them and feed them, but

Essay: Predictions for 2013

Predictions for 2013
(Scheduled for Chum for Thought #2: Blood in the Water, 2014)

This was written in the final days of 2012. You lose some; you win some; some just keep on stalking you through the night.

[This column was published in the Dayton Review in 2012. You can look it up. Somehow, I missed plugging it into the original Chum For Thought. No, I didn’t have any regrets about flubbing some predictions. I just screwed up. I wish I could have predicted that. It’s grievously outdated now, but some of our problems, like pulling dandelions, may be intractable. Enjoy.]

 THE END OF THE WORLD? – So, the end of the Mayan calendar last December was not the end of the world and the Age of Aquarius has been a wash so far. So, that leaves us with…

Essay: Religion, science, and our quest for truth

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Religion, science, and our quest for truth

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Religion, science, and our quest for truth

Both religion and science build theoretical models to explain observations. Sometimes the models work, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes sacrificing infants to Baal brings productive crops, sometimes bleeding a patient breaks a fever. Most cultures have rejected both of these models (religious and scientific, respectively). Even having a thoroughly-consistent theory does not establish truth. Traditional Chinese Medicine successfully treats "spleen deficiency" for problems totally unrelated to our anatomical spleen's function. Both religious and secular authorities have found themselves needing to adjust their accepted doctrine.

Sometimes religious ideas lead secular as in the Genesis record of the sequence of life’s appearance on earth, or the sanitary laws of the Israelites coming out of Egypt. Also, science is seriously beginning to explore the efficacy of some types of prayer. Sometimes secular ideas lead religion. In 2000, The Catholic Church apologized

Urgent: Our Children Must Learn to Love to Read.

Twitter / advice: Books. http://t.co/haIQUAwfyz

33% of High School Graduates never read another book the rest of their lives. 42% of college grads never  read another book after college. 57% off new books are not readd to completion. 70% of US adults have not been in a book store the last five years. 80% of US families did not buy or read aa book last year. Reading one hour per day in your chosen field will make you an international expert in 7 years. 

 

Book: Honoring My Father: Coming to Terms

Honoring My Father: Coming to Terms

Do you have someone you cared deeply about that is no longer with you? Do you wish that you could go back and do a better job of letting them know how much they meant to you? Yes, we all do. In this heartfelt account, David Satterlee tells personal stories of a remarkable father, his own failure in family and faith… and the rediscovery of love worth living for.

"Honoring My Father" is a journey of growth across generations. David remembers his Father's life with affection, and describes his own depression, spiritual crisis and divorce that led to being shunned by his family. Remarried, David and his wife attend his Dad's memorial service and discover opportunities to honor his Father's life, character, and a final wish.

This books also includes "Going to See Jessie," a related family story of elder-care, love, loyalty, and enduring patience. "Providing home care develops a predictable and cadenced routine... Going to see Jessie was an integral part of our Sisyphean life together. It was more than a routine; it was an obligatory rite, a necessary commemoration, like giving thanks before a meal or putting flowers on a grave."


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Book: The Role of Productivity in Community Success: The Jesuit-Guarani Cultural Confluence

The Role of Productivity in Community Success: The Jesuit-Guarani Cultural Confluence

This historical essay, drawn from the deepest jungles of Uruguay in South America, examines the creation of a flourishing culture and economy that lasted for almost two centuries. It explores the guided development of a virtuous web of social and economic controls that mixed the philosophy of Catholic Jesuit missionaries with the traditions of the native Guaraní peoples.

An unprecedented experiment in progressive community-building may have once created that rarest of cultural treasures – a functional and stable utopia... ended only by outside pressures of conquest and exploitation.

This is a living parable for our changing world, now suffering from seemingly-intractable political, cultural and economic turmoil… and struggling to be born into a tenuous future on uncertain threads of hope and despair. Rapid introduction of technology, educational systems, health care systems and social order have succeeded before – balancing competition and consumption in a new kind of community – and might be made to work again as we seek to create our own "new economy."

In this startling synthesis, Mr. Satterlee brings together and introduces: 
  • historical records, 
  • the social theories of the Catholic Church, 
  • the management theories of Peter Drucker, 
  • the psycho-social theories of Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics Integral, and
  • the economics ideas of William Lewis and the McKinsey Global Institute on “the power of productivity.”

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Essay: Setting limits

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Setting limits

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Does Setting limits cause #isolation, loss of #intimacy, and even #alienation of #love?

Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Women often feel at a disadvantage in relationships with men. Social pressures, openly or unrecognized, can give men a dominant role. How is a woman to feel self-respect, personal worth, independence, initiative, control, and security? The common answer, these days, is to “set limits.”

Setting defensive limits makes intuitive sense. “That which cannot touch you cannot harm you.” But, at what cost in isolation, loss of intimacy, and even alienation of love? In fact, the issue of boundaries and limits can affect the character of any relationship, not just those between men and women.

Kinds of Limits

Parents and teachers are urged to set firm, appropriate limits for young children as part of youths’ guided moral development. The goal is for children to