Newsletter Archive

I’d like to start this time with a song, a hymn, that is old enough to be in the public domain. Which means we can quote it word for word without having to have permission from someone! Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was a 19th century hymn writer. I found a short but informative article on her…

We have been discussing the movie Good Will Hunting. It is one of those stories where the issues are very clear, and it asks the question, although much in the movie also points to the best answer: What is more important, success in a career and all the trimmings that can come from that; or…

I ended last time by asking, simply, what is the story Good Will Hunting saying to us? How about this? What do you believe will bring you the most happiness and fulfillment in this life? – Success in a career, and the wealth and possibly fame that can accompany this? Is this what makes you…

We have been talking about the movie Good Will Hunting, which focuses on the relationship between a young man and his psychotherapist. Some of the best stories I know are about the relationship between two people, one older and one younger, a mentor and a mentee. The mentor is very experienced and has a lot…

I apologize if last time I became a little too dense or intellectual. I believe it could have been more clear. And I have realized, once again, that it always helps to have an example to use, an anecdote, or even better – a movie!!!! We have been talking about the fact that there are…

Last time I mentioned again something that has become very dear to me. It is on the back cover of both of my short story volumes and will be on the back cover of my third, due out in 2026. It is just this: Stories have always been about us, a mirror in which we…

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25 Last time I let my mind and heart wander and roam a little,…

It is hard to believe, but just over two years have gone by since I started writing these newsletters, right after the first Once Upon A Time was released. The very first newsletter was posted on August 15, 2023. There have been forty-seven since, almost two every month. I was advised by folks in the…

I hope that our conversation of the movie The Matrix over the last several newsletters has opened your eyes more fully to the truth that a story can be about anything, even AI talking control of the whole world, but at its core, still be about something much more central to our lives. From time…

We have been discussing the movie The Matrix, a story that some Christian folks have noticed over the years because the protagonist, Neo, is “the one who comes to save the world.” But there is much greater, and much deeper, symbolism in this story that was created by two brothers who would never consider themselves…