Friday, October 3rd and Saturday, October 4, 2014, are Yom Kippur. The name means "day of atonement." It is a day set aside to atone for the sins of the past year. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in the "books" is sealed and it is a chance to change the judgment by demonstrating repentance and resolve to make amends. It is a complete Sabbath for prayer and fasting. Most of the holiday is intended to be spent in prayer…
Two years ago Tara Parker–Pope wrote an article in the New York Times "Over-treatment is Taking a Harmful Toll. " In it she describes the research which reveals what she calls "an epidemic of over-treatment – too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures" which costs the nation's healthcare system some $210 billion a year according to the Institute of Medicine. It also takes a human toll in pain, emotional suffering, severe complications and death. I am reading…
We just returned from a short salmon fishing trip to Sonora Island in British Columbia. We were at the Sonora Resort which is about 230 miles by air from Seattle. On Tuesday we flew on Kenmore at Lake Union in a float plane for less than three hours and landed on a bright, beautiful day at the resort. Sonora Island is within the Discovery Islands at the mouth of Bute Inlet, which is one of the deepest Inlets in North…
Here are a collection of inspirational thoughts from a file i kept on motivation which I repeat here without any particular order. Maybe something here will touch your spirit. I hope so. "I shall not pass this way but once; any good therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." (Unknown) Winston…
My two sisters and I were born in the town of Anacortes, Washington. My father and his parents had emigrated from Italy through Canada to Anacortes. My mother's family immigrated from what is now Croatia and the small island of Brac to Anacortes. Mother and dad met in Anacortes and married. In 1989 the local paper, the Anacortes American, printed an article by my dad, Paul luvera Senior, about the early days of Anacortes. In it he said that his…
Each time I allow myself to go on a rant it inevitably offends someone. But, it's time for me to do it again. I will leave out my views about those who maintain huge dams, nuclear plants and huge, ugly wind towers are a good idea for power sources. Here are a couple of things that trouble me. Yes, I know, there are a lot of people who probably don't agree, but this is America and we all are entitled…
Last weekend my Gonzaga Law School class reunion took place in Spokane on Friday and Saturday. I was there on Friday and pleased to see class mates Gene Annis, Joe Gagliardi, Phil Raekes and Pat Sullivan there. Fred Frohmader, Dennis smith, Bob Kovacevich and Richard Guy, the other surviving members of the class were not there on Friday when I attended. Lita and I had to return on Saturday so I missed seeing anyone else that weekend. What's significant is…
I've been thinking about Robin Williams and the demons he had to have to drive him to end his life as he did. I suspect we all have some thoughts that wake us up in the middle of the night. The worries about what might be or the regrets of the past, but depression so grave as to result in a tragedy like this is beyond sad. Robin Williams talked about worry In the movie Jack where his character said: "“Please, don’t…
The other morning I went to Mass at St Nicholas Catholic Church here in Gig Harbor. I was impressed with finding over fifty people in attendance. That’s unusual given the fact it wasn’t Sunday and there was no real obligation to be there. They must believe in a higher power we call God,but why do they believe there is a God? Maybe it’s because they see our world tottering on the brink of the apocalypse. But, it’s not fear or…
My maternal grandmother Marija Babarovich died on August 5th, 1953. She died the year I graduated from high school in Anacortes, Washington.Her life story is one of great courage and sacrifice involving immigration to America while not being able to speak English. I've previously talked about that in writing about my mother.https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2010/07/mary-thelma-luvera-.html.html I remember her vividly. A tall erect woman with hair piled high on her head, she looked regal and carried herself in a way that projected dignity and…
