I don’t know anything at all about hunting pheasant. But I can imagine myself in the quiet mists of morning out in the wide open fields of Nebraska, standing beside the pick-up, tightening the boots, downing the last sip of coffee, loading up the guns and strapping on the orange vest, watching the dogs pace with excitement. I’m seeing through my husband’s eyes. He has hunted pheasant. I smell the drying corn stalks and perhaps a whiff of burning leaves.... Read more
The show’s dramatic theme song prepped the audience for a thrill; the deep voice announced the following: “The story you are about to see is true; the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Sgt. Joe Friday, confronted with auto theft, kidnapping, and murder, pursues the villain through clues and terse interviews – “just the facts, Ma’am.” (And why is it always “ma’am” as though it’s always the women who muddle up the account with emotion and embellish it... Read more
Dear Riley, Though this is not the first letter I’ve written to you, this is the first letter I’ve ever written to my son who is leaving home for greater adventures. You’ve always been an Adventurer – full of curiosity, passion, and an incomprehensible cheerfulness about getting up at o’dark thirty. God knows I’ve tried to manage your adventures, and sometimes I suppose I’ve been a hindrance and an obstacle. Someone once said that having children was like choosing to... Read more
Doubt is on my mind. It really feels like an autumn topic, I think – best suited for cold winds and browning leaves and dark, heavy clouds. Not a spring topic, which seems like it should be all about cheery faith and warm devotion. But seasonally correct or not, it’s all around me. Perhaps, however, it should belong to spring. Easter begs its attention. After all, the big questions in Jerusalem and all over Palestine in those weeks and months... Read more
We’re wrapping up the childhood years. Long ago we moved on from play dates and zoo adventures and Baby Beluga. I didn’t have much time to mourn all that because we were soon deep into baseball games, track meets, driving lessons, and orchestral performances. But now we’ve gone to our last back-to-school night; we’ve sent them off to the last Homecoming party; we’ve had our last pumpkin-carving party; we’ve gone to the last cross country race and jazz performance; we’ve... Read more
The season always starts out with such zeal. About two days into it, I’m beginning to revise my expectations seriously. By now, mid-Lent, I’m barely holding on. Do not misunderstand. It’s NOT that my Lenten disciplines are so arduous. Not at all. It’s just that my very real confrontation with the futility of them disheartens me. I abstain from things I enjoy very much, and can really only grumble about it and then find something else to satiate my cravings.... Read more
I walked into the noon service today, and felt a great sense of comfort at this great annual shift into Lent. The purple cloth over the cross, the silent gathering, the smell of burned palms, the flecks of ash on my nose – these lured me into the quiet and contemplation of a season of repentance. Historically, the Church invites us to express our desire to repent by taking on spiritual practices – serving, fasting, praying. “What are you going... Read more
Normal days beg no explanations. Daily life asks no questions that the newspapers, Internet, or personal opinions cannot answer. But natural disasters – earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes – these demand justification. On November 1, 1755, a massive earthquake hit Lisbon, Portugal. Modern geologists estimate it was nearly 9.0-magnitude on the Richter scale. It was 9:20 in the morning on All Saints’ Day, a central Catholic holiday, and many were at Mass. Nearly all the major churches of the city were... Read more
November is the month of Thanksgiving. We’ve exorcised our Halloween personas and we’re suspended between round, orange jack o’ lanterns and round, red Santas. Halloween universally permeates the various religions, but then in December we splinter off into our assorted winter celebrations – Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Advent/Christmas, etc., and, trumping them all, the secular holiday of mall mania. But for just a brief breath of time – perhaps just for a moment as we sit suspended in time before a Thanksgiving... Read more
Some witnesses to last week’s massacre at Fort Hood say that the shooter cried “Allahu Akbar” before he began shooting. These reports send shudders up the spines of Americans everywhere, both Muslim and non-Muslim. The cry has become inextricably linked to acts of horrible violence and is translated in our deep psyche as, “I’m an armed, out-of-control Islamic fundamentalist and you’re all going to die.” The fact that it means “God is great!” seems to have been lost on us... Read more
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