Make heroes of us all
Too often, the headlines tear at our national emotional quilt.I enjoy an expansive vocabulary. But some days, I don’t have words. And the spiral I take toward mental exhaustion isn’t fun.It’s as if I wake up at the mercy of…
More peacemakers and lovers
Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse (a small bird) asked a wild dove."Nothing more than nothing," was the answer."In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said."I sat on a fir branch, close…
Grace even in the midst
The geese are on a brief holiday, trying out other lakes and campgrounds in our neck of the woods, so this morning my audience a cluster of ducks. I had no shortage of topics as our world’s turvyness seizes both…
Wide open arms
It's already long past departure time. I'm standing near the gate, waiting for the inbound passengers to deplane. There's nowhere to go, and the plane will depart when it departs. Even so, the passengers (including me) are beginning to huddle, as…
The gift of enough
On my way to church this morning, in Hayesville, NC, we passed by an open field on Chatuge Lake, a flock of geese relaxing, waiting for their own service to begin. I smiled, wondering if maybe I should stop and…
Redemptive stories
My cell phone screen yelps, “excessive heat warning.” And without glasses, I thought it said, “heart warning.” Let’s just say, both are true. It’s triple digits here. That’s very rare and worth paying attention to in our neck of the…
The sounds of children playing
A seminary student body participated in a day of recollection and reflection. As the Seminary President introduced the guest retreat leader—on a beautiful Saturday morning in spring--he apologized to the seminarians, "I'm very sorry for the distraction and the noise."This…
The power of a kind word
Sarah is an ordinary woman with a peculiar habit. You see, every Saturday, when the Jehovah's Witnesses make their neighborhood rounds, she invites them in. And begins by saying, "I'm glad to see you. I'm not going to covert, but…
Gifts to embrace and spill
The middle drawer of her mother's dresser was filled with silk stockings, dozens of pairs in many exquisite colors, each wrapped in the store's original package. They had never been worn. Rachel admired the stockings, imagining the texture and enjoying…
The gift of grace
By my desk, a waste basket half full of wadded Sabbath Moment starts. None of them felt right. Or adequate.Like a Doctor visit I recall. “Where does it hurt?”“I don’t know.”“Can you be more specific?”“Does everywhere count?” As one friend…
