Author Archives: frdavid11

We often aren’t aware of the reputations that we are building until it’s too late. The only way I know of to control one’s own reputation is to set standards of behavior for oneself. Select the kind of person you want to be, and then measure all of your decisions—big and small—by whether or notContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 2 May”

Sailors are encouraged to have a questioning attitude. It may be that a particular Sailor is the only one who sees a threat or an impending mistake, and it is imperative that he or she is free to speak up and ask the question. No matter how questioning is encouraged, however, it is often theContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 1 May”

It’s been a while since I have, so I thought I’d share another poem. You all may have heard of E.E. Cummings, the early 20th century poet noted for using neither capitalization nor punctuation. What tends to be most striking about his poems, however, is his syntax. The way he structured his phrases and orderedContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 27 April”

On the island of Sicily, one of the islands that we blew right past on our way through the Mediterranean—it’s the one that looks as though it is being kicked by the boot of Italy—there is a city called Syracuse. Much older than the American city of the same name, it goes back three millennia.Continue reading “Daily Prayer, 26 April”

It has seemed to me that as more young men and women lose touch with religion of any kind, they also lose a sense of meaning in life, and certainly with the concept that they have any inherent value. This makes it very difficult for them to cope with difficult circumstances in their lives. InContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 24 April”

Shorter story means time for a longer prayer. I don’t think prayer should be a sermon, but yet, when done correctly, it can teach us—including the one praying—something about who God is, and what our relationship is to Him. Still, this is a good story to illustrate that maybe things aren’t quite so bad now,Continue reading “Daily Prayer, 22 April”

One of the ships I have deployed with is the USS San Jacinto. A Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser, she and the rest of her sisters are named for significant battles in US History. San Jacinto is an interesting choice to name a US warship, because the United States was not really involved in that battle.Continue reading “Daily Prayer, 21 April”

I had to go back and update the numbers on this one, and was surprised to find that, while two years ago the Cubs and Dodgers were tied for the lead in the dubious distinction mentioned herein, both have added to their totals and they are no longer tied. I noticed this time, that moreContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 20 April”

I’m never ashamed to be patriotic, and I don’t know if this current crop of Sailors—or even my own kids—are told these stories in school at all. If they are, they don’t seem to be told with the same patriotic fervor that they were when I was growing up. It isn’t cool, I guess. ButContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 19 April”