Ron Miller's Blog: Ron's Reflections, page 8

Peace on Earth

The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, by Thomas Cole.

When the first of November rolls around each year, my spirits begin to rise in anticipation of the holiday season to come. The period that begins with Thanksgiving and ends with Epiphany – Three Kings Day for some - on January 6th is my favorite time of the year. I’ve been pushing the envelope in my household for years on when I start to play Christmas music – regrettably, there is not a lot of Thanksgiving music out there! – and while I...

Bearing One Another's Burdens

I’m sitting here staring at a blank piece of paper, my mind filled with thoughts and my heart troubled. Like many of you, I’ve been trying to make sense of the racial tension that has our nation in its grip, and I’ve been dismayed by the tone and tenor of the conversation on social media, even among my friends and acquaintances. Calls for understanding are being met with resistance, requests for prayer are being ridiculed as inaction, and some are even predicting God’s coming judgment on one...

It is for Freedom

As we commemorate the 240th anniversary of America’s independence from Great Britain, I’m sure an analysis of search engine traffic would reveal that words like “freedom” and “liberty” are trending heavily. In fact, it probably doesn’t take a patriotic holiday to generate discussion and debate among Americans about freedom. Just our social media feeds alone tell us that we converse and curse about our freedom almost daily. We are a nation that places a premium on freedom.

So why is it that we...

It is for freedom

As we commemorate the 240th anniversary of America’s independence from Great Britain, I’m sure an analysis of search engine traffic would reveal that words like “freedom” and “liberty” are trending heavily. In fact, it probably doesn’t take a patriotic holiday to generate discussion and debate among Americans about freedom. Just our social media feeds alone tell us that we converse and curse about our freedom almost daily. We are a nation that places a premium on freedom.

So why is it that we...

The Price of Removing Restraint

Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. ~ Benjamin Franklin

As I was contemplating the implications of a weekend of horror in the city of Orlando, Florida, the home of the Magic Kingdom and the hub of a region of Florida we called home for a total of 10 years, my oldest daughter sent me a text message, which read as follows:

I think this shooting is gonna be a turning point but I don't have a feeling it's gonna b...

The Dilemma of "Trumpsplaining"

Unlike many political observers,I have spent the bulk of this campaign season focused not on Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican Party nomination for president, but on the people who are supporting him, seeking to understand what is motivating them to essentially turn the political establishment, especially the Republican Party, on its head.

Rod Dreher has written some of the most compelling articles on this topic under the moniker of "Trumpsplaining", and he links to severa...

Of Poverty, Privilege and Politics

An exchange in yesterday's Democratic Party presidential debate in Detroit, Michigan is generating a lot of social media buzz, if not attention from the mainstream press. In response to a question from one of the moderators about what "racial blind spots" the candidates might possess, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), stated:

When you are white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto, you don’t know what it’s like to be poor, you don’t know what it’s like to be hassled when you ar...

The Reckoning

As I write this, the Republican primary in my home state of Virginia is in the books, and Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate mogul who has flipped the political establishment on its head with his improbable run for the presidency, has won. His performance on "Super Tuesday" was not as dominating as perhaps Mr. Trump and his supporters had hoped, but it did make the path to the nomination much more difficult for his opponents. It seems that now would be a good time to consider the long-...

Revisiting the Dream

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." ~ The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963

This is perhaps the most quoted phrase from Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, and it is embraced by persons across the various barriers of identity we tend to erect around us. The fact those barriers still exist, however, should be an indication of how much mo...

Politics Can’t Bridge the Racial Divide

I have watched the news with dismay as racial discord has torn a major American university asunder, and the events at the University of Missouri have far reaching implications for race, college athletics, higher education, and even the First Amendment. I’m taking things in and not rushing to conclusions just yet, because there are people I trust who say there is legitimacy to the issues being raised in Columbia, whether or not one agrees with the response. In the midst of this turmoil, howeve...