Dear Connor: Hang on; the mess is almost over

Every 80-85 years, we enter this final generational shift that culminates in what can only be understood as a conflagration that burns off the accumulated mess and re-positions us for growth.

Dear Connor: How to marginalize the haters

Not all the -ists and -isms are haters. Not all the tacky and tasteless are haters. Most are just unwitting products of ignorance. We’re teachable. If we work at overcoming our ignorance, if we work on expanding our understanding, we don’t do as many bad things to each other. We get a whole lot closer to living by the Golden Rule.

Dear Connor: People with holes in their pockets

There’s not enough money to go around, to fulfill the promises made by Social Security, Medicare and state and federal pension systems. We can blow glitter and rainbows all over those facts, but it won’t change them.

Dear Connor: Put on your listening ears

While I can’t fix or change it as an individual, I can write about it, I can teach my son and give him the tools to deal with the mess he and his generation are going to inherit in 20 years. And I can pray that there will be others that do the same.

Dear Connor: Nine promises that we will be OK

Being OK doesn’t mean the next several years will be moonbeams and unicorns. The next decade will be harsh, unsteady, inexplicable and frightening. We will, as a country, walk with that awesome shadow of the valley of death. History tells us that we must face our worst selves before we can create our best.