© Robert W. Kelley I have an admission story. I grew up in a family and a supportive culture that did not involve a fascination or a need to have guns. But my small developing soul was drawn to play with cap guns, chaps and a straw cowboy hat; like most of the young boys […]
Tis the season to be hyper aware of the small creatures of wonder we call kids! Recently my wife and I have been spending more time with our grandkids, age 2 and almost 5. Their wide-eyed enthusiasm is naive and full of accepting fearlessness. I keep asking myself, when and why do we grow up […]
What is your level of self confidence or self esteem? Have you had extreme challenges in your life? How hard have you had to work to maintain an enthusiastic attitude of respect or positive self image? If you had Cerebral Palsy or some other similar disability, would you be doing what you do now at […]
Waldo Henderson is an intense spirit. He and I meet in the Chapel of a hospital where he works as a Chaplain. His shift is from 4pm to 7am the next morning. When we first met, I thought he was shy and unassuming. Later, I learned from experience; he is loud and bombastic (His own […]
Wally Retan I have struggled through a tough time recently. We all have experienced the pain of the pandemic, political and social unrest and life in the fast lane. But this is selfishly personal. So this post is about either embracing the inspiration that comes from maintaining Hope for the future, or falling into Hopelessness. […]
Grayson Hunter Grayson is the youngest of our two sons. He works in the film and television business in Atlanta that has grown exponentially recent years. He professes there is more work now being done in the industry there than anywhere. He is extremely good at what he does and takes great pride in staying […]
Brendan Price (BP) would say he is an average man. But it gives me great Hope that an average man with the help of family, friends and a universal cosmic energy can transcend and accept a higher knowledge. A flow of something that is hard to define is available to us all if we open […]
I didn’t know what to expect of my audience with Santa. It had been years since I have sat with him. So Bill Kinnebrew turned out to be everything I expected, physically and emotionally. Bill has an infectious hopeful spirit. Jolly does not describe him accurately. He has no bowls full of jelly in sight, […]
Esperance Uwayirege TaylorEsperance was five years old and running in a forest a few miles away from her parents impressive compound in Rwanda that had been transformed into to a refugee camp for people of that country and others who were victims of government repression, cultural brutality, racism, domestic violence and human trafficking. While running, […]
It has been awhile since I last posted a blog about Hope. But lately I have been inspired to start again. So let me start with a small recap of a few of the questions and answers from past posts. What is Hope? Glass half full? Wishful Thinking? Some would say it is just a […]
Chervis Isom, Photographed in the Norwood neighborhood where he grew up and had his paper route. I begin our conversation by explaining how the Obama 2008 election campaign of Hope and Change had inspired my desire to understand what Hope means. His face drops immediately, and he says that it is such a shame […]
Duncan suggests that there is both an active and a passive Hope. Duncan Blair is a husband, father, banjo player and attorney who happens to have Parkinson’s disease. He is pictured above in the Little Cahaba River, which runs behind his home. Swimming in this water is a healing thing for him. The time I spent talking […]
David Brower – “By most people’s reckoning, as an atheist I should have no Hope what-so-ever”. David said: “I hear a lot lately that we are wired for religion, that there is a religion gene. I don’t buy that. I would say that we are genetically wired to want to know why, but that could […]
Michael Wallace – “If it wasn’t for Christopher, I wouldn’t be here.” Michael’s son Christopher harbors no resentments towards his older brother Jamie who killed their mother (Michael’s wife). Michael’s mother killed herself shortly afterwards in an episode of extreme grief. Jamie was born with many physical and mental problems and is institutionalized. Though he […]
Alexandria Sanders (Lexi) doesn’t know what Hope is. Though I feel she has as much Hope in her DNA as anybody I know, she is like many, in that she has not been asked before. She is a student at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Al. She and I met at her house to talk […]
