Blog
Patterns, enigmas, and riddles
One Man’s Junk
What is a toxic person? Who decides what is toxic?By Robert BautnerOne way to maintain our innocence when differences arise is to remember the adage that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I read recently that there are ten things people should avoid, and...
I Wasn’t Born Broken and I Won’t Die Broken
This isn’t because I’m not broken (that is, flawed) in and of myself, because I am. But I’m NOT broken because I have the love of Jesus around me and within me that has healed my brokenness forever. There is nothing I can do to break apart what He has sealed together. If I were not flawed…
The Unsung Hero Named Strife
There’s an order to tragedy and scarring of life...found in the unsung hero named strife.By Robert Bautner Dear mother, Looking back, it may not have been about me nor about you, but the pain of strife like a dagger of a knife, that tears up one’s life, through...
The Lost Art of Dissent
Good relationships are constructed from opposing points of view, not from harmony.By Robert Bautner Late into Friday night after family prayers were said, the children snuggled in their beds. Our personal and dual prayers were communicated to God. We laid down next to...
Roses Blooming, Andy Griffith, and How My Autistic Brain See it All
Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, sitting in front of a Curtis Mathes brand television set, a marriage of TV shows entertained, influenced, and shaped my thinking. The characters and their stories became a part of my life’s journey…
The Experiment I Visited upon My Unsuspecting Wife
and what I learned from It. ‘Where is this anger coming from?’ About six years into my marriage, I found myself thinking this more often than I liked. It was a subtle but undeniable anger that sometimes arose when I made love to my wife. It was baffling.
Newlywed in my mid-twenties our marriage seemed