Category Archives: blog writing

My Task

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And now, to the writing of it. The telling of it, knowing beforehand that no words get close to the realities of those here and gone from life; those we have loved and love still from the center of our beings, our souls if you will. Yet, it seems to me, to not write about them, write for them, tell others about them, would be an injustice of the heart.

I cannot tell you the glory of an Oak tree by phone or on the page. Nor can I tell you in full measure the exquisite beautiful mystery of the always enchanting morning mist. But I can tell you something, and that is my task.

I cannot possibly tell you or explain in any full and complete measure how a woman hours from me warms my heart and lifts my soul with so much love and comfort I find the experience baffling, wondrous, soaring. So much so I hardly dare to believe it. But I can tell you something and that is my task.

I cannot possible tell you in full accurate detail and scope how it sickens my heart and soul when I see people being treated with hatred because of some aspect of who they are. The damage of this kind of hatred and bigotry is wide ranging. It is aimed at those who are gay, lesbian, disabled, black, Latino, Asian, female, Jewish, Muslim and so forth. But I can tell you something and that is my task.

I think, now, as the memoir pushes to its conclusion and I gear up for the next writing task, I need to and must accept that I can never tell the all of life, just, if I work hard enough, glimpses of it.

And that is my task.
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A SIMPLE TRUTH

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Like any year, 2008 has had its up and downs. One of the ups for me has been this blog. The growth in readership has been staggering. I’ll show you. The last three months of 2007 recorded 261 visitors for October, 245 in November and 394 in December. This year the numbers for the same three months look like this: 1,245 visitors in October, 1,716 in November and 1,245 and counting in December. The blog now has on or about 1,000 regular readers from around the world. That, may I say, is humbling.

Thanking you all for visiting this blog, which of course I do from the bottom of my heart, falls far short of how much it means to me knowing that you think enough of what I write to make me a regular part of your reading life. While I am blessed with many friends in my personal every day life, there is some special about my connection to all of you. Perhaps it is because when I write, I am closest to me. Something like that. While a small minority of those who read this blog are people I know, the huge majority are people I have never met and many are from around the world.

This blog has been visited by readers from places like Great Britain, Austria, Canada, Saudi Arabia (hi Jackie!), Italy, Sudan, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Kosovo, Czech Republic, Sweden, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, the United States and others. Amazing.

Then again, maybe not so amazing. Perhaps one of the gifts the web gives us is a glimpse into a very simple but often forgotten and distorted truth; we are all equal members of the human family. It does not matter where we come from; we all eat and breathe and want to be loved and want to love others; we all have dreams and hopes and all of us, all of us, deserve to be able to be who we are – safely and with dignity – in the world we live in.

I may well write another piece before this year is out. I’m not sure. Know that I am grateful to you all for your presence in this blog. I wish each and every one of you peace, love, friendship, good health, full healing, peace of mind and more in the year and years ahead.

Peter S. Kahrmann
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