"So, you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty.'" Luke 17.10 My uncle wore an apron every Sunday morning. Whenever I think of him, my first memory goes to the long white apron that he looped over his neck… Continue reading “Put On Your Apron”
Gone Are the Sounds of Summer
Gone is the sound of the cicadas as they pierce the air with lusty songs and fill the stillness with high-pitched voices that call listeners to a game of hide-and-go seek, going dead-silent when footsteps near. Where have you gone, O sounds of summer? Gone is the sound of little boys on bicycles, racing down… Continue reading Gone Are the Sounds of Summer
A Letter from Mommy to her Little Boy, Now an Angel in Heaven
My sweet baby boy, I knew the name I would give you as soon as I heard the doctor tell me you would be a boy. I didn't have to go to a book to find a name. I felt it in my heart and I spoke it softly on my lips. It was perfect.… Continue reading A Letter from Mommy to her Little Boy, Now an Angel in Heaven
Rags
As she stepped into the room, she stooped a bit from the years piled upon her shoulders like bricks on a wall, but the smile on her face was as sincere as a child's. She betrayed her years as well with her hurried speech, words tumbling out of her mouth like a spilled jar of… Continue reading Rags
“Walling In and Walling Out”
"Between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours." (Luke 16.26) A rabbi remembers the moment he found his calling. It happened the summer he volunteered to help on a building project in Ghana.… Continue reading “Walling In and Walling Out”
When God Made Grandparents
When God had finished creating the blue sky and the white ocean and the little field mice and the big giraffe, and he had put his finishing touches on Adam and Eve, he sat down for a rest. But while he was in his recliner, a thought popped into his head. He jumped to his… Continue reading When God Made Grandparents
Either/Or
"You cannot serve both God and mammon." (Luke 16.13) When the Roman city of Pompeii was layered with lava from the explosion of the volcano Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D., the residents had minutes to escape. Most were buried under the molten ash. Their lives were cemented at the moment of the eruption of… Continue reading Either/Or
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
"Your brother was lost and has been found." (Luke 15.32) A handful of years have gone by since the man died, leaving behind two sons. And however long the discord between the sons and whatever the first cause of the distance between them, it did not end with the death of their dad. The younger… Continue reading He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
Mick’s
We never had a "Cheers" bar--the TV place "where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came"--but we had Mick's for almost thirty years, and it also was someplace where you could go and everybody would know your name. While our small community could never be confused with Boston, we still found as… Continue reading Mick’s
Gone, But Not Forgotten
Grief, if it doesn't kill you, can make you wish you were dead. Every grieving person is on life support. Grief walks through the front door uninvited, destroys the house like a drunk on a terror, and walks out the back door only when it is sure the damage can't be undone. Anthropologists define grief… Continue reading Gone, But Not Forgotten
Sunday Brunch 