More than anything, perhaps, the Thanksgiving holiday is marked by messes large and small. Travelers by the millions stalled in airports and on highways. Kitchens from coast to coast piled up with pots and dishes. And some of the biggest messes of all, inside human hearts, anticipating or already experiencing the challenges of gathering across […]
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All things end in the Tao as rivers flow into the sea.[1] On a recent writing residency on the eastern edge of Wisconsin, I stayed in the middle of Door County, the state’s narrow peninsula jutting out like a long thin thumb into Lake Michigan. After unpacking my bags, I walked a short distance down […]
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You could call it our dream house – in many ways it is. Now months after moving in, we still wake up almost every day exclaiming how grateful and happy we are to be here. We love its urban energy, the constant flow of pedestrians walking by in front, the kids from across the alley […]
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Freshly returned from a pilgrimage to Transylvania, I recall questions that beckoned me there. Who were the early ones giving voice to the faith that claims me today, and what landscape and history inspired their spiritual quests and convictions 500 years ago? What new discoveries could be unveiled in my heart by visiting these sites […]
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Wisdom, says the biblical book of Proverbs, takes her stand at the crossroads. She is found, not in the quiet glen or near the babbling brook where one might expect a wise word to be heard. “Wisdom cries out in the street,” Proverbs’ priestly scribes claim; “in the squares she raises her voice. At the […]
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Freedom: the work of wings It was a warm spring day when our chimney began to sing. Birdsong reverberated down, an unexpected gift tumbling into the ashes. But soon after, more distressingly, came the frantic beating of wings. We had forgotten to close the flue and a small bird had dropped through the narrow opening, […]
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Have you found yourself resisting recently? In other words, fighting against, or refusing to accept any number of the unacceptable conditions of our times? Let’s face it. There are countless pressures, problems and prejudices today worthy of our resistance. More and more of us are resisting, each in our own ways, and doing so with […]
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