January 22, 2026 — USA
My Team is the People
I attended my youngest’s basketball game last night, and while the play on the court was intense and filled with sportsmanship, the behavior in the stands was a stark contrast. I witnessed parents screaming insults at the opposing team and threatening to confront officials. After our two-point loss, a confrontation nearly broke out between parents.
Reflecting on this, my father reminded me that such behavior isn't necessarily new—police escorts were sometimes needed at my own games in the 90s. However, it serves as a reminder of the complexities of human nature. This volatility of human nature is precisely why our democratic republic is so vital. It took the arc of human history to reach a point where self-rule is encouraged. While working with people you may not like is difficult, it is a necessary part of trusting regular citizens rather than ceding our future to an elite few.
When I see people today who are comfortable with the dismantling of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it suggests a profound loss of faith in their fellow humans. Conceding total power to an individual implies a lack of belief in one's neighbor and the potential of the common person. In doing so, we ultimately give away our own agency.
January 21, 2026 — USA
A Baby in this Era
We are the parents of older teenagers. Three in total. This past year, we decided to have another child, which is where we are now. It's a weird era to try to be a new parent. Everything is of course getting more expensive, but especially health care and basic staples. If I had been a better financial planner, I should have had this baby 10 years ago, but I've always been a little late in learning new tactics.
There's fear. There's always fear, though, right? It's because we live in a cold world with fallible people. It's weirder now, though, because we have a government threatening allies over hard to gauge objectives. We currently have 16 unused bases in Greenland. Instead of working with the Danish government to get things running, we threatened to hurt them. I don't know who we are in this situation, or what we stand for anymore.
What do these bases have to do with the possibility of a newborn in our family? Hopefully not much, is my prayer. However when a leader of your country threatens to invade many sovereign nations, it does give a parent pause.
But not having a child is not the answer. Not moving forward is not the answer. That is defeatism. This entity, quick to disparage someone dying on the ground who is denied medical care before even knowing the story, hates progress. They hate new ideas and people willing to stand up to them. So should we make new people and teach them the love of God over the hate of man? Indeed.
January 20, 2026 — USA
A Burning Fire
I recently saw a truck burn at a strip mall. It was a nice truck, older, but had great rims. And I watched the carriage of the truck just begin to melt there right on the pavement next to the Cava. It’s not something you see every day outside of Charles Bronson 80’s movies, and it reminded me that although things seem strong and dependable, it only takes a few moments for the entire thing to burn to the ground.
Eventually the firefighters came and after putting out the fire had to put the hose inside the cab of the now convertible truck to dump a small pool of water inside to make sure the fire was completely gone. My kids, who don’t get to see destruction often, were amazed at the entire process as we watched from a safe distance.
How or why did it catch fire? I can’t say. Nor can I say with any certainty why we find our country in a similar situation. My understanding is that we are living in the richest, most powerful country in the history of civilization. But why does it seem so petty? Why, whether it is calling Somali "garbage" people, or wishing the “radical” left “scum” an ironic Christmas from the Commander in Chief, does it seem like something has gone terribly wrong? (I ask anyone who reads that message to describe ‘radical’ as anyone who does not idol worship.) There isn’t an election this year, so the leaders don’t need to appeal to the worst tendencies of the base. So, what’s the real reason? There are two routes here: one, is that our leader has such hatred in his heart for his fellow human, that this is what comes out of his mouth on a daily basis. This makes me terribly sad to think about. But what makes me even sadder? That’s if he doesn’t believe it at all, and he’s just trying to rile people up, appeal to their worst angels and cause pain and destruction. And in that chaos he hopes to gain even more executive power than ever before imagined.
Either way we need to pray for him, that God breaks his heart for the poor and the sick. We need to pray for the mothers and infants no longer with AIDS medication because Elon Musk believed they weren’t worthy. And we need to pray that these leaders have a Damascus moment where they find hatred isn’t something to be wielded like a weapon, but something to strive against. I hope that we are all equal, and that we all have the right to pursue happiness here in this country. That’s what I’m praying for today.
Our firefighters for our country are the coequal branches of government, the fourth estate, and the voters ourselves. Will we show up in time? I hope so.
January 19, 2026 — USA
How Things have Changed
It feels as though we are at a significant crossroads in America. Over the last 13 months, there have been frequent threats of invasion against various countries—a frequency I do not recall seeing before in my lifetime. Recent reports indicate that the President informed foreign leaders that peace is becoming less of a priority because he has not received a Nobel Peace Prize. We are living through a truly unusual period in history.
During the German blitz on England, the government encouraged citizens to keep journals to document the daily life and mood of the era. I have a similar goal for this blog. While the circumstances are different, I hope to document these times, even if my concerns regarding upcoming geopolitical shifts and fractures ultimately prove to be overblown. If they are, I will be the first to admit it here.
My aim is to be as personal as possible while remaining anonymous to ensure I can speak freely. Thank you for reading. I will return tomorrow.
God bless the USA and God bless the world.