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Donald Trump’s First Week and Black History Month 2025 – New Realities and New Responses

Donald Trump’s First Week and Black History Month 2025 – New Realities and New Responses

by | Jan 28, 2025 |

This year Black History Month, beginning February 1, demands a second look and fresh eyes. I’ve written in past Februarys about how it is easy for we white people to see Black History Month as not about us. We may give polite acknowledgment or attend an event or two.  But we have minimal emotional investment. But if there was ever a year to pay attention to Black History and to what is happening to people different than us, this is it!

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A Legacy of Love & Service – Pass It On

A Legacy of Love & Service – Pass It On

by | Jan 14, 2025 |

When I first began to confront my misuse of alcohol, successfully sober people told me things that seemed either irrelevant or naïve. Why would they invite me to “keep coming back?” What in the world does it mean that “the first drink gets you drunk?” or “God can do for you what you can’t do for yourself.” Perhaps the most puzzling was: “We’ll love you until you can love yourself.” What does loving myself have to do with getting sober? It was 1980. I was 31 years old, and I didn’t think my drinking problem was that bad. Then a near calamitous auto incident led me to question how my drinking was impacting my family. That led me to attend a few Twelve Step meetings where I pronounced myself “not that bad.” Fear got me there and fear kept me there long enough to realize my drinking was bad enough. It could be that the most compelling thing they told me was that misusing alcohol is a progressive illness. My drinking and its negative consequences will get worse. 

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 Keep Hope Alive – A Christmas and Holy Season Greeting

 Keep Hope Alive – A Christmas and Holy Season Greeting

by | Dec 24, 2024 |

Tomorrow Christians celebrate Christmas. Hanukkah, the festival of light, begins for people of Jewish faith on Dec. 25 and ends Thursday, January 2, 2025. Kwanzaa, a holiday honoring the culture and tradition of people of African origin, begins on December 26 and ends on January 1. For many people, for many reasons, it is indeed a season of hope. Today’s post continues to explore our individual and collective battle between darkness and light and despair and hope; it concludes with a simple song that I offer as a gift of hope.  

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Waiting and Wondering in a Chaotic Time

Waiting and Wondering in a Chaotic Time

by | Dec 10, 2024 | ,

Chaos and uncertainty abound these days. Nature is doing its part to remind us life is messy and we aren’t in charge. I woke up last week to howling winds, temperatures too cold for my liking and some light snow. Friends in PA and MI were digging out from huge snow storms while friends in FL complained about this unusual cold and needing to turn on their heating systems. 

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Gratitude for Bill Wilson on his Birthday

Gratitude for Bill Wilson on his Birthday

by | Dec 3, 2024 |

Last week, November 26, was Bill Wilson’s birthday. He was born 129 years ago in 1895. He is the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous with Dr. Robert Smith of Akron. Like many people in recovery from addictions, I feel indebted to Bill and his wife Lois, and Dr. Bob and his wife Anne. The couples’ love for each other empowered Bill and Bob to survive a deadly addiction to alcohol. Together they created a “way out” of the despair and torture of an illness destructive to them, and their families.  

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About Tom Adams

Tom AdamsTom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.