Perspective I feel small in the face of overwhelming violence: another killing, another killing, another killing . . . it’s as hard to be hopeful as it is to be poetic. How can our kindness afford to be random when the violence is intentional? This can’t be the last word. Peace, Milton
perhaps we cannot understand— no matter how many holy weeks we live—the way that time must have emptied out into the darkness when they the took him from the garden. we mark the days between with names like good and holy, and know that they are the days between and not the beginning of whatever…
I look forward to April 1 for a far geekier reason than pulling pranks: it is the beginning of National Poetry Month. As life would have it, today felt like a poem, full of words and imagery and resonance, which was the word that kept coming to mind. Ginger and I had a lunch date…
I’ve carried this idea with me for a couple of days, hesitant to share because of the gravity of the loss for the families of those who were killed in the plane crash in the Alps. I decided to risk it nonetheless. black box for all of the tragedy that has marred human history there…
we gathered for dinner on this penultimate thursday because this is the night that we eat dinner together for no other reason than we eat dinner together. fourteen around the table— a couple more than were there the night Jesus broke the bread, poured the wine and spilt his love all over his friends, hoping…
rush hour was a contradiction this afternoon—I could see the stalled cars for what looked like miles in front of me, so I dove for the exit and the open spaces. I saved no time, but I did keep moving, winding down Durham roads I rarely travel; my daily world is small. I would do…
“As we dedicate ourselves to one another, and thus experience daily and directly the diverse array of gifts that contribute to our living, gratitude will take its rightful place as the fundamental disposition that guides and forms our ways.” — P. Travis Kroeker “Communities of care are sustained by rituals of regard.” — bell hooks…
I had a day of rest today, thus, today’s word. respite it’s the streetside café that pulls you out of the crush of people filling the sidewalk; it’s the bench in the park where you can sit unnoticed with the disquieting revelation that the world can go on without you, yet expects you will be…
It’s not hard to find pain around us. I can name several friends who have marked the anniversary of a parent’s death, some who are facing difficult decisions about their jobs, others dealing with illnesses and uncertain outcomes. That just skims the surface. Pain is common currency, along with disappointment and loss. One of life’s…
the words are falling out in twos and threes tonight . . . a trickle of thought and thankfulness trying to keep a promise: I said I would meet you here, and bring a word: mosaic: diverse pieces forming a more or less coherent whole. Start with the shiny shards of my day: the old…