So…this is me. Here I am, in this photograph, stripped bare and laughing. Even though my life in some ways seems to be bare, I am still able to laugh. Even though material richness seems to elude me, I am still surrounded by beauty. So much beauty – my wife, love, friendships, relationships…. How grateful I am for such things.

Jesus said that a person must lose their life in order to gain it. The words ring true to me.

I have come to learn that it's only when you strip life back to its bare basics – relationships, love, justice, passion, compassion, a real connection with the creator of this universe…- that contentment lies.

I don't claim to have all the answers and, like most people, I struggle with life and what I see happening in this world. But, I have lived long enough to know that the grass is not always greener on the other side.