Because I had the time to do so, I spent many hours yesterday in front of a television screen, watching various 9/11 ceremonies around the country. What struck me about these events – whether they were carried out in a field in PA, Ground Zero in NYC, the Pentagon, or right here in our area, […]
Endurance
My heart is warmed by the many, many emails I received after my last post. One person asked, “Is it really as hard as that?” Yes, it is. And harder still since yesterday. If I am sitting under a desert canopy (what I call the way station), my better half is in a dungeon, undergoing […]
Christmas Visitation
Lately my life has been like sitting under a canopy out in the middle of the desert, beside a dirt road. Time ekes by very slowly as I wait for the bus to come by to pick me up and take me away from there, but the bus doesn’t come. So I sit and wait, […]
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
A short time ago I went with some relatives on a tour of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California. An impressive white architectural marvel set up on a hill, the building was as impressive inside as it was out. Our tour consisted of an hour’s introduction by one of the PhD […]
God’s Story
Spending the Memorial Day weekend in a rented cabin one block from gorgeous Lake Tahoe gave me a chance to ponder the earth’s beginnings once more. Of course Genesis 1 has led to much speculation about how the earth was formed and how long it took. But I think we too often let that debate […]
Courage Keeps the Kings!
I am totally stoked that the NBA relocation committee has voted to keep the Kings basketball team in Sacramento! The committee’s decision goes a long way to sealing the deal when NBA owners cast their final vote on the matter in a couple of weeks. Looking good, Kings! But I gotta be honest, I couldn’t […]
How Long to Sing This Song?
Do you recognize the phrase, “How Long to Sing This Song?”? It’s from U2’s song “40,” loosely based on Psalm 40. I can’t say I understand the full meaning of the lyrics, but seeing as it was written during the time of conflict in Northern Ireland, that’s a big clue. But I’m thinking, of course, […]
Paying Attention to the Source
I have been reading about Jesus’s last week on earth. In churches that follow a liturgical calendar, today is called Maundy Thursday; it is the day when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. From Luke 22: The day of unleavened bread arrived, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed, and Jesus […]
Faithfulness
Lately I have been thinking about our old dog, Buddy. Nothing made him happier than being beside us moment by moment…following Jack around the yard, or me as I went from room to room going about my household chores. Anyone who has had a dog knows this: Even though we don’t speak the same language, […]
Advent – Waiting and Preparation
I remember going to a camp once very shortly after my first profession of faith. Some of my friends and I were bedded down in sleeping bags in a large dining hall lit with old fashioned looking wagon wheel lights overhead. The first night I had a dream of heaven. The dream was very real, […]