Son-shine on Your Shoulders

Good Son-day on a Monday Fall has officially started.  Go out and see the colors You will always find Good News here! Cooking, Soke Style Raw Soliloquy! Soliloquy:  A soliloquy is a literary or dramatic situation in which a person speaks their thoughts aloud, usually while alone on stage, revealing their inner feelings, thoughts, or motivations to the audience.  In this case the audience is God. A number of tasks delayed my message this week, but I still wanted to take a moment to reflect. Lately, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by current events—whether local, national, or global. Stress, frustration, and even hopelessness can quietly creep in. But I want to gently remind us all: we don’t have to carry it all. The reality is, current events aren’t going away, but neither is our ability to respond with strength and grace. Let’s continue to focus on what we can control: our faith, our mindset, our actions, and how we support one another. Small moments of prayer, worship, pat...

Happy Son-day! Leaves are starting to fall You will always find Good News here. Treetop Trails Provoked! On September 16, Jo and I will go to the polls to cast our votes in the special election for Minnesota House District 34B, to help choose a successor to our late representative, Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, who was tragically assassinated along with her husband, Mark, on June 14, 2025.  The loss was not only a statewide tragedy, but it was also deeply personal for many of us here in Minnesota, and especially in my city. I knew her and Mark. We are living in a time when the number of lives lost to gun violence in our country is deeply troubling. It often takes only a small spark to provoke those who are mentally unstable, and the consequences are devastating. What’s especially heartbreaking is the contradiction we’re witnessing: people being killed for acts of love, and others for words of hate. The line between compassion and conflict feels increasingly blurred. Our cou...

Happy Son-Day! Enjoying the last few days of summer floral color  You will always find the Good News here. Of The Garden Variety ALGORITHMS!  Over the past few years, I’ve found myself growing increasingly cautious about how I use social media. Like many others, I once embraced these platforms as tools for connection, creativity, and community. But as time has gone on, I’ve become more aware and more wary of the hidden costs that come with being constantly connected. One of the more unsettling trends I’ve noticed is the appearance of unauthorized followers on my social media accounts. While this might seem minor, it raises serious questions about who really is in control of my account.  The why is obvious --- $$$$$$.    One of the most insidious aspects of modern social media is the way algorithms—and increasingly, bots dictate what we see. These systems aren’t designed to inform or uplift; they’re built to engage. And often, that means promoting content that is...

Labor Day edition of . . .  Good Son-Day! The book closed on Summer.  Now Autumn Fun! You will always find Good News here. The Last Strands of Summer A Two-Pronged Approach It is time for me to be the OG I am in regard to training a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it. This is a passage from Proverbs 22:6. Over the past 25 years, I’ve observed a concerning trend: children are receiving less and less training in the basics of the Bible.   This biblical knowledge is essential—not optional—and it’s the shared responsibility of both parents and the church to provide it.   Deuteronomy 6:6-7 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. In recent years, we’ve seen a shift in how children are spiritually tr...