*** My friend A. was an old hippie who looked a little like Jerry Garcia (the old guy version) with grease under his fingernails. He worked at a body shop by day, and gave his nights and weekends to what he believed was his true calling: a musician who used his gifts as part of his church’s worship team. He spent more than three decades as a rock `n roll version of David during his harp-playing days. He worked hard... Read more
To The Good People Of Mitford, NC – You may be classified as fictional characters living in an imaginary place, but after reading all nine books in Jan Karon’s series featuring so many of you during the last two decades, I feel as though I’ve you’ve taken on the status of my second home. I’ve had five addresses since I first met you all when a good friend pressed a just-off-the-press copy of At Home In Mitford (the 1994 Lion Press... Read more
2015 is poised to enter, stage right. It’s a time-honored tradition for many of us to greet the new year with a fresh list of resolutions. I’m going to lose 10 pounds. I’m going to run a marathon. Skydiving – it’s gonna happen. I will purge the basement and garage. I am going to lose 10 pounds (I mean business this year.) I will read the Bible from start to finish. I’m going to quit smoking. That’s it. I’m joining a gym. I will volunteer in my... Read more
The December 5th edition of This American Life featured three haunting audio stories on the topic of regret. Host Ira Glass introduced the topic by noting the persistent nature of long-term regret: “Some regrets never go away. People tell us they forgive us, we try to forgive ourselves, and we still know like we did wrong, like we hurt somebody, it was real. And that feeling, it can immobilize you. If you’re lucky, it teaches you something you can take into... Read more
When I saw the notice from the Society of St. John the Evangelist inviting people to add a contemporary dimension to the watching and waiting of Advent, I jumped on board. “Pray through Advent. Pray through your phone camera. Create a Global Advent Calendar. Sign up and receive the daily Adventword. Tweet or Insta an image for each day’s #Adventword. Watch the calendar grow each day.” The images pouring onto the monastery’s website and popping up on Twitter throughout this season have been comforting, confrontational, predictable,... Read more
I’m a sucker for all the year-in-review lists that pop up at this time of year. I’ll read with glee those wry month-by-month summaries of the past year like Dave Barry’s annual column, or those annual lists of the worst movies of the year (or ever made, which will no doubt be rejiggered to include this stinker). Maybe it’s because as the calendar year winds down we’re all prone to a bit of reflection before we dive head-first into our regularly-scheduled... Read more
I was contracted to write a small Advent prayer booklet at the beginning of this year. I’ve done a good measure of devotional writing over the years, and rarely expect to hear from those reading the words I’ve penned. My job is to behold Jesus, then share using imperfect, broken words what I’ve witnessed. I pray those reading my words get a glimpse of what I’ve seen without too much Michelle getting in the way. Shortly before Thanksgiving, I brought... Read more
When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” – Luke 2:22-24 At this time of year,... Read more
I’ve always loved reading old cook books. My mom hated to cook, so our weeknight dinners when I was growing up were usually broiled steaks with iceberg lettuce salads and Green Giant frozen vegetables in rotation with Chinese take-out, McDonald’s, or pizza. Long before I was first introduced to cooking in my middle school Home Economics classes, I was reading recipes in the Good Housekeeping magazine that arrived in our mailbox each month. We had a few mostly-unused cookbooks on a... Read more
When my adult son offered to host Thanksgiving last month, it felt as though a baton was being passed instead of platters of turkey and cranberry relish. For three decades, I’ve been the one to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Now, it was time to hand off the honor to the next generation… at least this year. We work hard to create and maintain family traditions, especially around the holidays. This season is thick with memory – recalling every gingersnap, stocking, visit... Read more
Pilgrim's Road Trip
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