Failing Up

After a long cold snowy winter in the Northeastern part of the United States, there is nothing better than the aroma of fresh cut grass to let you know spring has arrived.  This magical fragrance transforms me into a different time, memories of my youth in the yard, summer approaching, about to break free from the shackles of the classroom.  Just a whiff of this grass brings loved ones long gone b...

As a week of celebration for an extraordinary  leader and pastor, Pope Francis, the peoples Pope comes to an end, I am once again overwhelmed with the power and peace for faith.  Not faith defined by a certain denomination or particular religion but just faith.  When faith it truly lived and taught by those that live it, then there is not fear, well except if you are being chased by a grizzly bear...

Unlike Santa Clause the Easter Bunny is an animal.  While growing up and still to this day when I see Santa in the mall, at brunch, or ringing a bell on the street I can make the connection, he is a nice plump man with a beard.  The Easter Bunny however is a completely different animal.  First of all, he is an animal!  So when I'm  at the mall or Easter Brunch and some dude in a bunny costume...

In our current day, I can run errands, go to work, and visit the doctor without any real interpersonal interaction.  I get gas with my card at the pump, bank at the ATM, groceries at the self checkout line, telemedicine with the doctor, Zoom my ass off!  There was a time where a day like that I would find myself interacting with people, who I had come to know.  The guy at Hess gas pumping my gas,...

Well, let me tell you back in my younger days if there was a rule to be broken, I broke it.  Tell me to go right and I go left.  Now that I am in the Autumn of my life, (ok early autumn like Labor Day) I find myself obsessed with certain rules.  Fifteen items or less the check-out sign reads a that grocery store.  Yet people cruise through with 20, 30, 35 items.  I find myself counting the items o...

Our society seems to be obsessed with who or what is the GOAT, greatest of all time, in what ever category you want to pick.  Greatest, band, basketball player, quarterback, late night host, it goes on and on.  These discussions  transcend into arguments in the blink of an eye. My stance is, there are not GOATS.  There is greatness in any category you select and there can me multiple greats.  I ju...

As I find myself rushing from point A to point B, there are times I think I'll just stop at a drive-thru and grab something to eat.   As I approach the drive-thru I see a long line of car just waiting and herding through.  It then dawned on me that the drive-thru for fast food, is slow!  People just do not want to get out of their cars. Our car, the communication, center, racing machine, info...

Five years ago we went into lock down.  All except for the "essential workers".  Those selfless heroes at times taken for granted until a crisis occurs and they rise to the occasion.  In this case, nurses, doctors, truck drivers, grocery store employees and first responders, police, and on and on...  Individuals' who make our lives possible.  I just found the term "essential wo...

One sure sign that spring is around the corner and winter is melting away is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.  This is season where the "Fish Fry"  rules!  I love going to the local fish fry's in church basements or cafeteria's. There is such  sense of community and warmth.  Even at the take-out fried fish stores that are packed every Friday up unit Good Friday there is...

Pennsylvania has Punxsutawney Phil, to forecast when spring will arrive, New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, heck we even have lent, all to let us know that spring is on the way.  In the central part of New York State, USA, in city named Syracuse, in a wonderful Irish section named Tipperary Hill, full of history, legacy names, families, and the only traffic light with green on top, we know s...

Unlike the "Dog Days" of summer we are now in the "Dead of Winter" here in the northeastern portion of the United State.  February in Upstate, NY, cold and snowy, dark and cozy.  Yes, cozy.  Nothing liked a grey snowy Sunday to put on an extra pot of coffee, grab a book, watch a movie or just be a peace.  You can hear the silence as the snow falls and blankets the ground.  Past...

I despise Valentine's Day!  It's a holiday of pressure, stress, forced love, and embarrassment.  Designed to kick start sales and post holiday spending in the dead of winter.  Ok, I have a few issues that have never been resolved! This goes back to elementary school when all the children in our classes had to make an envelope to stick on the wall in the front of the classroom, for all to...

The United States Surgeon General reported earlier this year that loneness is at a all time high.  How can the be in a world that is so connected by technology. A world that is connected yet disconnected. Where communications on platforms such as Facebook are one way a post validated through "Likes'. Arguments with "friends" over sports, who's the GOAT, politics, you name...

Reality TV has crossed over into the real world.  Values are based on entertainment, voting is a ratings war, and fantasy valued over facts.  Of course it is not a reality program, and it is not my intend to demean the genre by comparison to what is currently playing out in our word.   We are in a period where being entertaining, creating a persona is valued over the truth, law, integrity and valu...

I was on my way into the grocery store, (which are now little communities that go way beyond just groceries) to pick-up my prep prescription for an upcoming  colonoscopy.  The procedure no one wants to admit they get.  "The procedure is not bad, but the prep will kill you!!!"  That's all you hear!  So as I entered the store I am greeted by two lovely ladies who asked me if I would l...

In a day and age when there is a constant bombardment of messaging through  vast channels of communication, the casualty has been the truth.   Those who grasped this new reality have been able to motivate and persuade by delivering messages their audience wants to hear regardless of accuracy.  A message that aligns with the values of the intended audience.   If the message is questioned for truthf...

In the home, whether it be a mansion, house, apartment, flat, log cabin or a small shack, the kitchen table was the place where the pulse was.  It was at the table where debates occurred, homework was done, sorrow and joy shared, the day debriefed with family and friends.  There was comfort in routine; Sunday dinner, roast beef, and gravy, Monday meatloaf, Tuesday casserole, Thursday spaghetti, Fr...

2025 a new year with many changes ahead.  As in most cases uncertainty can fuel fear. Most fear is created to motivate, manipulate, and control.  Now, this will sound cliché, but the way to overcome fear is through love. Love of your community, family, friends, those less fortunate, the arts, individuals' who may have different views and values.  As President Franklin D Roosevelt stated in hi...

In this podcast we are celebrating Christmas Eve in the studio.   Merry Christmas! timothymahar.org

As I entered the parking lot to the grocery store what did I see, a mass of zoned out shoppers in a frenzy.  All in a hurry to get in the store, in hopes their special items were not there no more.  Items required for the traditional dish, past down for generations and never missed.  So charge to the store in 14 degrees, people get out of my way if you please. Tall and short, coats and hats, some...

Growing up when and where I did, the winters could be very cold and snowy. To take advantage of this season I found myself participating in winter sports along with friends.  My three favorite's were: throwing snowballs at cars, Ski-Doo rodeo, and of course tobogganing.  Well, tobogganing fell off the list after a late night fateful jump on the local iconic reservoir that left four snowmen sp...

The minute the last trick-or-treater put's down their bag for the night, the clock begins ticking for Christmas.  We are reminded of the number of days left beginning November 1st.  Black Friday is everywhere you go, there is no escape!  Everyday you are being reminded only 35 shopping days, then only 20 , then you better get packages in the mail by 12/15 or you are toast.  Run! only 20 days,...

The holiday season is upon, and Christmas is at the forefront with decorations, the tree, cookies, drinks, shopping Santa, Christmas programs, and specials, it goes on and on.  There is one thing that holds the season together like a bow on a gift, and that is Christmas music.  Christmas music is everywhere and for 6 weeks like a drug.  Rockstar's, popstars, country and classical singers all...

Thanksgiving is a holiday that belongs to everyone.  There are no specific religious, themes, it is not just a "red" or "blue" holiday, it is inclusive.  It was a holiday founded on gratitude.  There is no crazy commercialization,  just a big parade and football. It is a holiday based on sharing a meal and time with family and friends and those less fortunate.  It is a holiday...

Just like with the environment, when unregulated garbage, toxins and exhausts are dumped into our oceans, omitted into the air, and just tossed anywhere, the effects to the environment, and those that occupy this planet have unhealthy and life threating ramifications.  The same holds true for the mass amounts of information we are exposed to daily/hourly from a plethora ( I really wanted to use th...