Choosing Kindness Over Being Right When It Comes to Politics

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, challenges, choices, hope, kindness, Life, perspective, Quotes, Relationships, stress 8 Comments

@bethvogt People are talking about both of the who’s and all of the what ifs of the upcoming presidential election. I’m not going to be one of those people. Not here on this blog. Not on any social media platform. And very rarely with family and friends. There’s the oft-repeated saying, “Never talk about politics or religion in polite company.” …

In Others’ Words: An Opportune Time

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, opportunities, Quotes 6 Comments

  So often we look at the time we have and think of what we’re not accomplishing.  And we stress out. Maybe we could change how we think about the time we have. Be more positive about our days — the hours and minutes we are blessed with.  Today is an opportune time to: be kind.  laugh with family and …

In Others’ Words: Filling Voids

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 5 Comments

Some truths are more harsh than others. Some people avoid the word “sin.” They consider it outdated. Old-fashioned. We don’t sin anymore. We make mistakes. Get tripped up. Commit an error. But I prefer to call a sin a sin because it reminds me that my wrong action has wounded my soul — and possibly someone else’s soul, too. I …

In Others’ Words: Wrong and Right

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 5 Comments

There will be times when we are wrong. There will be times when we are right. It comes down to this: What will we do during the wrong times and the right times? Who will we be? When we’re wrong, we can pretend our wrong is right. Or we can close our eyes and ignore our wrong. Or point at …

In Others’ Words: From Here to Eternity

Beth VogtUncategorized 4 Comments

I’ve mulled over Thomas Merton’s words for several days now. “Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.”  I usually stay away from generalizations like that — careful not to use words like “every” and “all” in statements. But I don’t believe Merton is overstating the truth here. I think we overlook …

In Others’ Words: Planning and Planting for Shade in Years to Come

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 11 Comments

How often do we think about how our actions today will affect someone else in the future? I can get so caught up in the here and now — crossing off all the things on my To Do list that I accomplished — that the future encompasses only a few days from now, and not much further. Oh, sure, I’m …