Yesterday I had my final meeting with my spiritual director, Ken, who is also a dear friend and a lover of poetry. We shared poems as a part of our litany of farewell; I share some of them, now, with you. The LayersI have walked through many lives,some of them my own,and I am not…
I’ve had my share of days when I wondered why I was on the planet; Sunday was not one of them. The wonderful folks at our church here in Marshfield and several other friends gathered to remember what our years here together have meant and to wish Ginger and me well in what is to…
I am one who walks along the shorelooking for answers and sea glass.If it were not for the cleansing tides,the beach would be a well-worn path, but twice a day the waves comeand wash away my searches and sinsand lay them at someone else’s feet,or let them sink into the deep. I imagine an armada…
I’m an NPR nerd. Several years ago, when we were on a mission trip to Philadelphia, we were walking to see the Liberty Bell and passed the building that houses WHYY. “That’s where Terry Gross is,” I exclaimed. Then I laughed at myself. Sometimes as I drive, I switch over to our local talk radio…
That was the nickname I had for the song “Thankful Boys and Girls” when my friend Billy and I wrote it many (dare I say many, many?) years ago. Ginger asked me to sing the song as a part of worship today and several folks stopped me at coffee hour and asked me to post…
I’m watching Chef walk an interesting creative line these days. He’s in the process of making some menu changes that work to incorporate his culinary creativity with the fact that our restaurant is, as he puts it, “in a meat and potatoes town.” Instead of each steak on the menu having a different starch and…
As you make your to do list for today, write down, “Buy Washington Square Serenade.” Steve Earle’s first studio recording of new songs in three years is worth every dime. For those of you who don’t know him, Steve’s first record, Guitar Town, came out in 1986 to rave reviews and afforded him fame that…
Though I was flying home alone from Durham last Thursday night, I was not by myself. Seated next to me in the exit row was a large man who actually needed the extra leg room and who quickly fell asleep; across the aisle sat a couple who each had a puzzle book to work as…
The clue for 41 Down in the “difficult” crossword in Spirit, the in flight magazine of Southwest Airlines was “golden rule word”: unto, as in do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Jesus’ words are as obvious as they are wise. We, as a people, however, often have to be reminded…
I was going to write this morning, but I got to reading the annual Southern music issue of the Oxford American, which comes with an amazing CD. The periodical is a labor of love and excellence, and certainly worth a look. Check out this piece on yodeling by Roy Blount, Jr.; “The People’s Singer,” a…