I was one of the oldest 12-year-olds you would have ever met. When they talk about people who have been “around the block a time or two,” I had been around the whole city, almost literally.

With the new confidence I gained from coming to understand that I was not alone and that I had great worth in the sight of God, I probably could have stopped going to support groups at some point. Many people think I should. I haven’t and I’d like to explain why.

If you knew me 22 years ago, you would have not really have known me. Who I was on the inside and who I was on the outside were two different men. There’s an old Freudian-type of idea that men with facial hair are symbolically hiding something. I don’t really buy that idea, but for […]

Self-honesty requires that I examine myself carefully enough to know all the reasons I’m doing something. If there isn’t at least some admission of selfishness in my pondering, I’m rationalizing.

I would bet that every person reading this has felt the frustration of having something to say and everyone else too focused on their own thoughts to really listen. Yet, even though we’ve all felt the sting of being misunderstood, very few of us make the effort to understand before we give our opinions.

I wish I knew how to create an environment where young people with dark thoughts feel like they can talk them over with people who can help them. How much violence could we prevent is we were more open and young people felt they could trust us? How much pain could we soothe if young people who have experienced abuse felt they could tell us about it?

The glass of water analogy falls apart for me because whether you look at is half full or half empty, it still contains water and air, and we need both. I’m addicted to both. Can’t seem to get enough of either.

I want people who are harboring their struggle and suffering with it in secret to know that there are some positives that come from being open. I want them to know that they can dare to open up, if not in as public a way as I have, but to those they consider their friends and loved ones.

Wisdom and encouragement can sometimes come in unusual packages. Sometimes they can be great choruses or works of music created by some of the great composers. Sometimes, in words written by the saints and apostles of ages past as well as today. And sometimes from  an annoying ear worm or some very pretty flowers.  3 […]

After making somewhat of a nuisance of myself in How Silence Feels, people have wondered just what it is I think that local church leaders should be saying about homosexuality. I think it is an easy question, at least in my mind, but may be a little overwhelming for others. Then again, it’s a subject […]

In Taking the Plunge: A Leap of Faith, I wrote that I wasn’t as concerned about changing policies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Boy Scouts of America, as I was seeing the hearts of people change to be tolerant and loving towards those with same-sex attraction. I realize that […]

I was “out” long before it was so fashionable. Back in my day of “openness”, people hadn’t really heard of blogs. Videos like you can find on YouTube took hours and days to download. Conversations were mostly done on mailing lists and newsgroups. Most people who read this won’t even know what a newsgroup is.

With all of these sources of information and commentary in all of the places where members of the Church can see them, it can result in confusion when the only thing being said is what everyone but the Church is saying.

This week is one in which I meet myself coming and going. It’s been a month of ups and downs. I’m house sitting while both my sisters are out of town. While I’ve been house sitting, I’ve had the opportunity to revisit some of my favorite movies. The Sound of Music has been one of […]

One of the greatest gifts we can be given is having someone (or many someones for that matter) believe in us and our abilities. 6 people like this post. Like Unlike