Discouragement and weariness take a toll. More often than not, when we don’t even realize the weight.That means it is story time.“Remember on this one thing, said Badger. The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them.…
Teachers considered grade school student Gillian Lynne a problem child. You know, one of those students who don't pay attention. Or focus. Age 8 and unable to sit still, Gillian had earned the nickname Wriggle Bottom. This much was clear;…
Attending a conference on religion in Japan, Joseph Campbell overheard another American delegate, a social philosopher from New York, say to a Shinto priest, "We've been now to a great many ceremonies and have seen quite a few of your…
Always try to leave people better than you found them. Hug the hurt. Kiss the broken. Befriend the lost. Love the lonely.I want to live in that kind of world.But this is my confession: some days (well, too many days),…
Mary had grown up knowing that she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. Born with a cleft palate, Mary would hear the jokes and tolerate the stares of other children (some cruel, others, simply curious) who…
Welcome to a new year. People have asked about my resolutions. (I tell them I’m still working on last year’s list.) Or, with our precarious world, some ask for advice on navigating it all. (I don’t remember taking a seminary…
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. The store is run by Mr. Edward Magorium (who claims that he is two-hundred-forty-three years old), assisted by an insecure Molly Mahoney, and a…
On my walk this morning, a conversation with the geese. We stand on a hoarfrost landscape, our temperature here just a wee bit above freezing. I’m sporting my stocking hat and scarf, but the geese seemed unfazed.“I have a new…
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson began her career as an accomplished viola player. While on tour in Europe (in the late 1980s), her viola was stolen. She could have replaced it. As would be imagined, the theft threw her into a state…
A great Rabbi died. He had been revered and loved by his congregation. After his death, it was decided that the Rabbi's son, himself a Rabbi, would take his father's place.This pleased the congregation, for the son would be "just…
