Life Lessons from Annette Petrick

Annette Petrick hosts a delightful “Consider This” podcast that I get each Sunday morning. I was so moved by one she posted a couple of weeks ago that I asked her if I could use it for my HowWiseThen Mother’s Day blog. She graciously agreed to that, so here is a tribute to the wisdom passed down from mothers to children through the generations. Happy Mother’s Day to women everywhere who nurture children from cradle […]

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Sidney Poitier & Black History Month

Sidney Poitier always comes to mind when I think about Black History month. Thinking about him reminds me an incident I experienced a year or so after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita decimated the Gulf Coast Region. I and two other disaster response workers, both Black men, were walking along the famous Bourbon Street area of NOLA. We were in town to assess needs and address the unrelenting challenges wrought by the hurricanes. One companion was […]

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Modern Hero – Desmond Tutu

We’ve lost several cultural heroes in recent weeks: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Betty White, and now Sidney Poitier. The heroes we select guide our lives as surely as the Star of Bethlehem guided the Magi to the newborn Christ-child. Where we end up on a trip depends on which signs we follow. Pick the wrong sign and end up someplace you didn’t intend to go. Desmond Tutu was a hero worth following. His contributions toward peace […]

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Suffrage Activist Susan B Anthony

Both future Suffrage Activist Susan B. Anthony and popular abolitionist Frederick Douglasss attended the 1848 Seneca Falls, NY convention. The event was the first convention dedicated to addressing women’s right. Douglass was the only African American in attendance. He had already established himself as a leader with the publication of his autobiography in 1845.  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is was a best seller in his lifetime and is still […]

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We the people -flag and declaration of independence

Independence Day 2021

I first published this in 2021. It seems more relevant than ever given the contentious political, religious, and actual climate climate this summer. Do we really value liberty and justice for all? Or only those who can wield the most financial influence? I wonder how much longer we’ll be the land of the free and home of the brave. I’m rerunning this so I can spend some time with my family. This Sunday we celebrate […]

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