Author Archives: frdavid11

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”

I found it quite exciting to write about the history of places that we were sailing in and around, and I hoped that others would also find it so. I don’t remember many conversations after this particular prayer, but I did notice an increase in the use of the term described herein. It gave meContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 18 April”

This was a fun story to write because I got to pretend that I know as much about basketball as I do baseball. Because this prayer generated so many conversations the next couple days I was quickly exposed, but delightfully so since I was then able to get to the real point I was tryingContinue reading “Daily Prayer, 17 April”