Humility

May 23, 2015
May 23, 2015
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I was a god for a day

I Am GodAfter I graduated from Saint Louis University law school in 1982, my wife and I moved back to Peoria. At that time, my wife was pregnant with our second child. Shortly after returning to Peoria, I began teaching CCD classes on Sunday mornings at St. Sharbel Catholic Church to seventh- and eighth-grade students.

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May 16, 2015
May 16, 2015
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How We See Ourselves

SuperiorLast week, I listened to an audio recording of a presentation that was given by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in the 1950s. During his presentation, Sheen talked about an experience he had while he was a Monsignor in New York. He recounted the following story:

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May 2, 2015
May 2, 2015
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The Art of Listening

Listening CartoonLast week, I returned a client file to one of my employees, with instructions on what she needed to do to correct some mistakes she made on a legal document. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call her “Jane.”

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April 25, 2015
April 25, 2015
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Dumb Behavior

DumbI recently filed a chapter 7 bankruptcy case for a client who owed a significant amount of money to some local loan shark companies. (I call payday and title loan companies “loan shark companies” because they routinely charge up to 300% interest per year on money that is loaned to customers.) My client also had several thousand dollars in accumulated debt that he owed to credit card companies and medical providers. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call my client “Jim.”

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April 18, 2015
April 18, 2015
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Guidelines For A Disgraced Congressman

Ben Franklin - 13 Virtues to Moral PerfectionIf you pay attention to the news, you know about the recent resignation of our local U.S. Congressman, Aaron Schock. Schock is currently under investigation for violating federal law while he was in office. Some of the violations include using campaign funds for his own personal benefit, overcharging the government for mileage expenses, and flying around in private jets that were owned by individuals or companies who donated money to his campaign.

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April 4, 2015
April 4, 2015
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Flushing Poison Out of Your Heart, Mind and Soul

Forgiveness - PoisonDo you know what the Blessed Mother, the apostles, the disciples, and all the followers of Jesus had in common, other than believing that Jesus was the Son of God? They all forgave everyone who was involved in the torture and murder of their Savior. Think about how difficult that had to be. I know how hard it is for me to forgive certain people for what they have done to me, but I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been to forgive those murderers.

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January 3, 2015
January 3, 2015
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Insulting The Dead

Cemetery

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December 20, 2014
December 20, 2014
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A Special Christmas Gift

Christmas PresentEarlier this month, I had a conversation with a judge who recently retired after serving as a state court judge for more than 20 years. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call him “John.” John is in his early 60s, and during our conversation he asked me how many grandchildren I have. I told him that after adding three new grandsons last month, my wife and I have 10 grandchildren.

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December 10, 2014
December 10, 2014
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Turning Conflict Into Personal Growth

Elbert Hubbard quoteI want to share with you a very powerful technique for changing the way you respond to offensive  or critical comments.  This technique has the potential of turning what is usually a very painful and unpleasant experience into an opportunity for personal growth and wisdom.

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