I once worked in an elementary school. The principal had a wooden paddle hanging on the wall behind his desk; the words PAIN HURTS were burned into the wood. Somewhere out there are some people who think they’re controlling us with the use of pain, people who enjoy inflicting it and who are savoring the results… people who weaken us by instilling fear and separate us by reaching into our private emotions. There has been a time when each of us like has felt like the child standing in front of that paddle, small and scared. I know what pain is. Life has given me my share… Continue reading on the home page…