Many years ago, my friend Billy Crockett and I read an article about a ship captain who, with his crew, abandoned ship when it began to sink, leaving the passengers on board. The story led us to the song title, “Down With the Ship,” which ended up being a song about Martin Luther King. Now…

The words on this blog tonight come from President Obama’s speech at the memorial service in Tucson. They feel worth passing along. To the families of those we’ve lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants gathered tonight, and the people of Tucson and Arizona:  I have…

A couple of weeks ago, I got to attend a mushroom workshop put on by my friends at Bountiful Backyards, our edible landscapers here in Durham. We were each given a freshly cut oak log. We drilled forty or fifty holes in it and then filled them with the mushroom spores, inoculating the log. We…

After another wonderful Friday Night Dinner, I offer these words of hope and thanks. dinner time at the end of the daywhen the day’s had its wayand we sit at the table togetherthere is something profoundin being gathered aroundto give thanks for both table and tether bring your joy and your painand let’s gather againour…

Epiphany. It’s one of our stained-glass words that catches lots of light. Perhaps because it’s not one we use that much, or at least it doesn’t always have to do with church when we use it. The dictionary gives us a few options: 1. a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of…

The world changed while I slept, and much to my surprise, no one had consulted me. That’s how it would always be from that day forward. Of course, that’s the way it had been all along. I just didn’t know it until that morning. Surprise upon surprise: some good, some evil, most somewhere in between….

Here’s what happened Sunday. Ginger had the congregation read John 1 in unison: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In…

The good news is the people at the Apple store rock and my MacBook will good as new. The only bad news is I won’t get it back until Friday, which means my blogging will have to wait until the new year. I will close out this one with much gratitude and keep good notes…

Yesterday this blog turned five years old — and my MacBook started acting up, which made it difficult to write. Such is life. Thanks for being a part of the conversation. Peace,Milton

I was in the self-checkout line at Kroger this afternoon, about six people deep, when the guy in front of me started talking. He was twenty-two, I’m guessing, a good four inches taller than me, and in a Kroger uniform. He had one Christmas card in his hand. That was all. As we stood there,…