hoop dreams I’ve spent the last two weekends following a sport I cannot play watching men and women spin and shoot with an ease I have never known inside my skin my basketball career began and ended in church leagues sixth grade I was benchwarmer an uninitiated American kid from Africa who didn’t know that…
My sermon this week is about the resurrection of Lazarus and wondering about what he might have felt about coming back to life, among other things. _____________________ It is hard to turn a life into a coherent story–or, maybe the better way to say that is it is hard to turn a life into a…
daffodil the first daffodils opened this week as if they had marked their calendar for the start of spring in years past they have not been so punctual which is not entirely their fault I should say the lows at night still dance close to freezing and most of the garden is still in hibernation…
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the office at my church in Hamden. Today was special because our office manager, who is of Italian descent, told me he was bringing Zeppole to celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph, one of the traditional foods made for the celebration in Italy and Sicily. I didn’t know…
train of thought she saw me first as we stood in among the apples though I wasn’t the one she was looking for or at her eyes went over my head to catch the train that chugs around Bishop’s Orchards she squealed like she knew everyone on board or like she was a passenger on…
handscape I’ve been staring at my palms like they were a writing prompt or a collection of coded runes the deep rutted roads that run like poorly planned highways across an aging desert of skin ancient river beds now run dry from days when dreams roamed these valleys like dinosaurs I’ve stared long enough to…
Because I went to the gym this morning, I saw the message on my dashboard that my car was due for servicing and I remembered to make an appointment when I got home. The Honda dealership had an opening this afternoon, as did I, so I told them I would be there around 2 o’clock….
It’s been a little over five weeks since Loretta came to live with us. Tomorrow (Monday, that is) will only be six weeks since Lila died, and we are still grieving Ella who died in late October. Even with the presence of both absences, Loretta is making room for herself with unabashed energy and affection….
The passage for my sermon this week is John 9:1-11, which is part of the story of Jesus healing a blind man. There are a lot of sermons to be found in this passage, but I got caught by the question the disciples asked: “Who sinned that this man should be born blind?” I hope…
tortilla sunset when I walked into the supermarket my dinner menu was still up in the air everything depended on whether or not they had Sweet Hawaiian tortillas I picked up two ripe avocados in an act of faith a couple of jalapeños too pushed the cart past the deli counter and turned towards the…