Middle Men

Omar Aleman
7 Mar 2024
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middlemen

What is wrong with being adventurous at the age of 23? Throw caution to the wind, I said, and so I did. And in doing so, the breadth of my life choices was diminished. I felt invigorated that February morning waking up in a downtown Chicago hotel after experiencing a snowfall for the first time in my life as we landed in Minneapolis the previous evening. The meeting was planned at a site five blocks away from my accommodations, so a choice had to be made; take a taxi… or be brave and walk to the location with garments not […]

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Are You Carrying a Concealed Weapon?

Omar Aleman
13 Feb 2024
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“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something in your life.” “If you are going through hell, keep going.” “Victory at all costs, victory in spite of terror, victory however long and hard the road may be.” The World War II Allied Forces were led by talented, experienced and war savvy military officers like MacArthur, Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, Portal and De Gaulle, among others. In my estimation, however, the lynchpin of this massive war effort was the enigmatic statesman, soldier and strategist Winston Churchill, the originator of the above-mentioned quotes. An imperfect man, known for his drinking […]

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New Year’s Solution

Omar Aleman
7 Jan 2024
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solution

The late Walter Matthau acted in or produced 62 movies in his 45-year career. These included “A Face in the Crowd”, “Hello, Dolly”, “The Sunshine Boys” and “Fortune Cookie”, with which he won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. A man of multiple talents, he is best known in his later years for work such as “Grumpy Old Men”, “The Odd Couple” and “Dennis the Menace”, in which he played a curmudgeonly, cantankerous, ill-tempered sourpuss. For many of us, the movie that encapsulated this carefully crafted persona was “The Bad News Bears”, where he became Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic […]

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Out With The Old, In With The New

Omar Aleman
19 Dec 2023
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Adam and Eve were rooted out of the Garden, Cain was booted from his land and Noah’s descendants scooted out of Babel when God confused their language. Abram scooted from his country when God promised to make his descendants a great nation, Hagar and Ishmael were booted out of the family home with the arrival of Isaac, and Lot was rooted out of Sodom prior to its destruction. Exile was at the heart of these events, and these encompass less than half of the first book of the Bible. From old to new Forced absence from one’s country or home […]

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God Doesn’t Move Parked Cars

Omar Aleman
22 Nov 2023
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While bringing the church service message at the Homestead Speedway on October 22nd prior to the NASCAR race, it struck me how appropriate it was to “bring God to the track.” For openers, as believers we have a defined start/finish line. He determined our arrival, and only He knows the “qualifying time” towards our finish line here on earth. Downshifting and accelerating are an integral part of both the vehicle and the spiritual race. It is imperative to have a competent crew, our “cloud of witnesses,” as we traverse through the deafening noise of society on our way to eternal […]

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On The Run

Omar Aleman
12 Sep 2023
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Paul Harvey’s voice and delivery were exceptional, not to mention the mandatory ending to his daily broadcast. I take monthly license with these articles by utilizing his familiar format; a personal experience followed by a weaving tale until we get to “the end of the story.” And today will be more of the same. Run in the relay There I was in the afternoon gym class prepared to give it all for the team. The coach had broken us into four groups of four for a relay race only available to the swiftest. We were running dead last as I […]

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All’s Well That Ends Well

Omar Aleman
9 Aug 2023
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Manuel Sibila and I entered his Rambler, dialed WKIZ/AM and prepared to start celebrating the end of another school week by listening to tunes. Instead we heard chaotic reporting of an ongoing event that shook the world. As a high school freshman and a recent arrival to this country, it seemed inconceivable to me that the President had been shot and killed that November afternoon. The loss of JFK was a reality check for baby boomers. All of us would always remember where we were when we heard the news; it would never be the same again.  Tradition, transgression and […]

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A Tale of Two Churches

Omar Aleman
12 Jun 2023
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” The address looked familiar. It was located in the Westchester area of Miami near Florida International University. These were my old stomping grounds, full of friends and acquaintances, where my parents resided. Then I saw the building, and a flood of emotions engulfed me; we were returning to the scene of the crime.  My friend Steve had invited me on several occasions to join him at Sunday service in the new church he was attending. He […]

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