What's in your sack? the traveler, stooped from the heaviness, is asked.My Mother.Isn't she heavy?She sure is.Why don't you put her down?I can't.Well, why can't you stop carrying her?I don't know. I've always carried her. I know this: I,…
“I like your style,” I tell the geese on this cold and blustery morning. “Even today, still looking for sun, and a good meal. And you hang together; that impresses me. Plus, I’m told you mate for life, with very low divorce…
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…
“You all irritate me,” I tell the geese. “Well, truth be told, only sometimes.”“That’s an interesting way to start a homily,” one says, without looking up.“Okay. Maybe it’s not you. It’s me,” I tell them. “Truth be told, I’m churning…
Welcome to the new year. 2021. There are so many who couldn’t wait to get here, with 2020 in the rear-view mirror. Although we all know it doesn’t quite work that easily, does it?But this I do know, from a…
On today’s walk, the rain is unremitting. The sky is gray and cinched down at the corners. But the evergreens along the way, vivid and alive. It is quiet, and I walk with a smile, exploring and enjoying the acreage…
Physician Richard Selzer describes a scene in a hospital room after he had performed surgery on a young woman's face: I stand by the bed where the young woman lies, her face, postoperative; her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A…
On Christmas Eve, a young father watches his 3-year-old daughter do her best to meticulously wrap a present. And she feels old enough to do so, without any help from a parent. (Remember that phase?)Choosing a roll of expensive gold-foil…
My walk this morning is in a new neck of the woods. I will be in discovery mode for the next several weeks. I do miss the sheep. But in the coming days, I will be on the lookout for a…
“I’m saying goodbye,” I tell the sheep. “This will be my last Sunday with you all.”They look, but say nothing, maybe waiting for a punchline.“I know, I wanted to tell you sooner, but there’s been a lot on my plate.…
