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95 Piccadilly

March 13, 2024

Perseverance is a key component to success, or so I’ve always been told.  While not quite a virtue, it’s an admirable trait that can lead to wondrous and mundane things:  admiration, prosperity, attainment, and, in the case of Frances Cabrini, self-fulfillment and ultimate sainthood.  Over the weekend, I made a point to watch the new…

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This past week, I did something I hadn’t done in years

By Shane Gilreath This past week, I did something I hadn’t done in years. I painted.  I’ve painted ornaments and office walls, but to sit down, canvas in front of you, and create, it had been a while. As I worked on a portrait of Jesus, inspired by Rembrandt’s Head of Christ and Lent (Jesus’…

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I have said for years that I am anachronistic

By Shane Gilreath I have said for years that I am anachronistic. I embrace that. Even as children, my sister would tease that “there’s an 80 year old man inside you.” That natural internal pendulum does not sway so freely in me. It’s rather one of balance. It’s not that I’m never shaken or angered,…

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During Lent, we all should turn inward to our faith

By Shane Gilreath During Lent, we all should turn inward to our faith.  It’s a sentiment that means more and more to me.  The older I get, the bigger role faith plays in my life, and sometimes, as I have learned, things happen that tests that faith and exalt us all to believe.  My personal…

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It was midday and high summer

By Shane Gilreath It was midday and high summer and I was standing in front of the Lazarus department store on Outer Loop in Louisville, Kentucky. My father, my aunt, Elsie, and I had just had dinner at a restaurant called River House with views of the Ohio River. I was 10-years old and was…

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Today, in Copenhagen, the longest reigning monarch in Europe

By Shane Gilreath Today, in Copenhagen, the longest reigning monarch in Europe, Margrethe II, abdicated her throne in favor of her eldest son, and, thus, the clock struck on a moment in history.  I, too, am stricken by such moments. In my days of yore, one of my most memorable tourism encounters was a Dutch…

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Pride goeth before the fall

By Shane Gilreath Pride goeth before the fall.  The last few years have been humbling ones, as I find myself struggling through difficulties that I never thought I’d face; struggling through, like much of the nation.  The last year, particularly – perhaps, a cumulative one – has, at times, been one to bring me to…

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Merry Christmas!

By Shane Gilreath Merry Christmas! Though it’s an almost forgotten piece of our culture, today very much is still Christmas, the tenth of the twelve days of the Christian season, ending with the start of Epiphany, and commemorating the birth of Christ. As Christmas 2023 came upon me so suddenly, I find myself grateful for…

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