‘Seasons of the Soul’ sprang from weekly music radio show
OCEAN CITY – Short devotions he has shared for 25 years during his weekly folk and bluegrass music radio show became a book for Ocean City resident Terence Sikoryak.
“Seasons of the Soul,” published in 2020 by Balboa Press, is a collection of the devotions Sikoryak has done on the show on station WYRS (90.7) out of Ocean County.
At the time, the pastor at the church he attended in Manahawkin was doing a show and invited Sikoryak to take part because of his collection of folk music and bluegrass music. The pastor soon left, but the show continued. It is on the air every Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. on the station that covers parts of Ocean, Monmouth and Atlantic counties.
Sikoryak not only wanted to share his love for music, but about his faith, so each week he included a few-minute devotion. “It was something about my life and how it fits with my faith,” he said.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to organize the devotions into a book covering the different seasons. Sikoryak shares aspects of what has inspired him and what helped lead him from the dark times in his own life. Publishing a book was an important goal.
There are about 20 devotions for each of the four seasons.
“I think the most powerful thing people read in the book is my daughter’s letter to me on my 60th birthday and my mom’s advice,” he said. The advice came the day before she died.
His mother was sick, but the family didn’t know she was that close to death. He was driving her around to do some errands when she told him he was a good dad. At the time he had two small children (later to become six – five boys and a girl.)
“She said this is the best time of your life when your kids are little. Enjoy them. Don’t let things get in the way. And when your kids get a little bit older and you can play with them, that’s the best time in your life,” he said. “She said when you have teenagers, it is a little bit crazy, but that is the best time of your life. And now, when I talk to you as your parent and you’re a parent, that’s the best time of my life.
“What she told me was no matter what part of your life you’re in, look at it as the best time of your life. The next day she passed away. It was a great blessing I got,” he said.
Another devotion is about not waiting.
“Why wait? Everybody is waiting for something else to come instead of enjoying what’s going on today, being present in the moment,” he said. “Today is the present. The present we get is today.”
One devotion uses a story about when his son Josh was young to relate it to his faith.
“He didn’t like to take showers. It was a struggle every day to get him to take showers. One day he said, ‘Well, I’ll take a shower, but I’m not going to wash.’ What I say in that short devotion is that some people say, ‘I’ll got to church, but I’m not going to change,’ which is just as ridiculous as taking a shower and not washing. You still come out stinking.
“That is the idea of the devotions. Short little things like that.”
Sikoryak now has four grandchildren and one on the way. The book is dedicated to the four granddaughters, whom he adores, just as he loves watching his own children as parents.
Radio show, ministry, next book in progress
On his radio show, he said, “I’ll play somebody like Johnny Cash, John Gorka, Bob Dylan. I can play anything as long as it’s good, clean fun. That’s what the show is about,” he said. As this year comes to a close, he is doing “must reads” and offering advice to people calling into his show asking about books as gifts.
“First get my book. That’s the best present,” he said, laughing. (It’s available on amazon.com and directly from Balboa Press.) Among his book suggestions have been “Think Like A Rocket Scientist” and “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” and just a few weeks ago a book by John Rohn.
Rohn, he said, “really changed my life. I was going through a really bad time about 11 years ago. It was a really tough time.”
A friend lent him a tape by the late author that was practical wisdom. “One of the things he said was you can’t change your circumstances overnight, but you can change your direction. Tomorrow you can start a new direction. At the time, that was exactly what I needed to hear and the next day I started a new direction.
“And the direction determines your destination,” he said.
The 65-year-old said his wife has been very encouraging and suggested a personal coach to help him get organized. Because one of his goals in life was to have his name on a book – “I thought that would be a great honor to my mother” – the coach had him organize and edit his book for two hours every Wednesday evening and then text her that he was done. “That was an accountability and a discipline that helped me get the book together.”
That coach is now helping him with another book called “This One Voice,” named after a ministry he has run for 11 years. It is for people who grew up in alcohol or dysfunctional homes or with trauma. Sikoryak said he grew up in an alcoholic home and he realizes its impacts even a half-century later. The pandemic helped expand the group, which met in person until protocols stopped that. Now that it is over Zoom, he said, people have joined in from across the country. (To get an invite to the meeting, send an email to thisonevoice@yahoo.com. People do not have to share; they can just listen in.)
The book is still a work in progress. “The pivot of the story is Dec. 31, 2010, when I was all alone in my room and I wrote down the most brutal fact of my life and said, ‘Wow, that’s pretty bad, but it doesn’t have to be that bad tomorrow. You can move toward healing tomorrow.’”
Sikoryak has worked in the insurance industry for 38 years, many of them, including now, at McMahon Insurance in Ocean City. As well as the volunteer radio gig, he enjoys the work in his profession, especially being able to help people in their time of need.
Sikoryak plans to continue both is professional career and his radio gig as he works on his new book.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff