Author: tomstellawebsite

“…frequently I do drift away from the present by fantasizing about what’s coming up next. I now realize that I have spent much of my life thinking about “What’s next?” While eating dinner, I will start thinking about what book I am going to read or what movie I am going to watch after dinner. … Continue reading What’s Next?

“In my earlier years, the “religious” was for me the exception… ‘Religious experience’ was the experience of otherness that did not fit into the context of life. Since then, I have given up the “religious” which is nothing but the exception, extraction, exaltation, ecstasy; or it has given me up. I possess nothing but the … Continue reading Religious Distractions

When an alcoholic works the 12-Step program When an inner-city child graduates from college When an abused child becomes a responsible parent When an abused spouse says “no more” and means it When a couple in a troubled marriage begins counseling When a smile pops to the face of one long lost to depression When, … Continue reading Signs of Resurrection

“…we have lost the enchantment that gives human life meaning and value: We are so intent upon building a well-oiled society – literally and figuratively – that ruins clearly get in the way. They are an obstacle and a nuisance. They represent a regressive movement rather than a forward one, the disabled past rather than … Continue reading In Defense of Ruins

  “A few years ago a man who was compiling a book entitled Success wrote and asked me to contribute a statement on how I had got to be a success. I replied indignantly that I was not allowed to consider myself a success…If it so happened that I had once written a best seller, … Continue reading Success

Mardi Gras  The term ‘Mardi Gras’ is French for “Fat Tuesday,” the last day of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting associated with the Lenten season. This day of food and fun is also referred to as Carnivale, a word that literally means “farewell to meat,” and Shrove Tuesday from the word shrive … Continue reading Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday/Lent

“…people say it is presumptive to claim I am God, whereas it is an expression of great humility. That man who says “I am the slave of ‘God” affirms two existences, his own and God’s. But he that says “I am God” has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says “I am … Continue reading Blessed Blur