Everybody knows there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who do and those who don't. Those who can and those who can't. Those who ask and those who don't ask. Out of a need to render a complex world more understandable, it seems we like to compress our knowledge into binaries: a… Continue reading To Hug or Not to Hug?
The Flicker of a Star
Somehow, her name was forgotten. Not even her brothers and sisters remembered it. Not that they are to be blamed entirely, not all of them, since a number of them never knew her. The three who preceded her in birth may have known her name, but that is unlikely, since they were only six, four,… Continue reading The Flicker of a Star
Backpack
I admit I saw the backpack before I saw the back of the boy. Actually, I saw the three or four pieces of paper in the backpack before I saw anything else. For some reason they caught my eye—pages that looked like coloring sheets for a child. And they were partially colored, as children do,… Continue reading Backpack
“Winter is Coming”
As the balding man swept his over-sized yard rake across the dead leaves that had dropped to the ground after last week’s freeze, he just as easily could have been a barber sweeping up sheared strands of hair from the barbershop floor or a butcher with a squeegee in his hand sending blood-stained water down… Continue reading “Winter is Coming”
Hide and Go Seek
"Zacchaeus . . . a tax-collector. . . was seeking to see who Jesus was, but he could not see him because of the crowd." (Luke 19.2-3) One day a mom heard her eight-year-old daughter Grace whispering, although no one was nearby. Her mom asked Grace just what she was doing. The little girl answered,… Continue reading Hide and Go Seek
“A Wretch Like Me”
"The tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'" (Luke 18.13) A common exercise that was used for many years to build self-esteem in elementary age students was to have each student make… Continue reading “A Wretch Like Me”
Orans
"Moses' hands, however, grew tired; so they put a rock in place for him to sit on. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other." (Exodus 17.12) C.S. Lewis made the argument in his book, "Screwtape Letters," that the physical posture we take when we pray makes… Continue reading Orans
Thank You, Jesus!
"Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?" (Luke 17.17) Ingratitude has an ugly face and no amount of makeup can turn it pretty. I remember an attorney friend telling me a story about the ugly face of ingratitude that he had seen. He explained to me that he had served as… Continue reading Thank You, Jesus!
Creatures of Habit
Did you know it only takes six weeks to form a habit? That is not by my calculation. That conclusion comes from smarter people than I. The people who study people like you and me have determined that if we want to form a habit--just about any habit--then we need to do it every day… Continue reading Creatures of Habit
Talking Above Their Heads
Over my lifetime, I have not mastered a single language, including English, my native language. I still have to go to the dictionary--these days the internet--to look up the meaning of a word, with about the same frequency as I have to go to the bathroom. At various points in my life, usually points where… Continue reading Talking Above Their Heads
Sunday Brunch 