In a pamphlet he published called “Common Sense,” Thomas Paine expresses the last straw that pushed him over the ledge toward independence from Great Britain. No man was a warmer…
A disturbing question confronted me two weeks ago, like an Intervention. It bubbled under the surface in March and April when the Master Naturalist classes were meeting, but I ignored…
Nikita, our dog, lay unbothered near the driveway despite passing dogs barking and straining at their leashes. Neighbors exclaimed their amazement at her loyalty. Even on our walks to the…
Acting Squirrelly Our breakfast table rests against a wall of windows that look out on the back porch. Each morning a menagerie of birds and squirrels entertain us at the…
The air conditioner kicked on as I wound the vacuum cord back into place, but the house was otherwise ominously quiet. Curious, I poked my head around the door frame…
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it would feel like to hold hands with God, not metaphorically, but literally. Jesus grabbed Peter’s hand when he was sinking under…
Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a kid? We played it at night and called it murder-in-the-dark. All the neighborhood kids gang in our yard, milling…
Who Are You? What Defines You? A couple of decades ago I could hold a toddler on my hip while I dragged wet clothes from the washer to the dryer,…
Do you see king cakes and moon pies in the grocery store now? Parade floats line the streets and beads hang detangled, ready for tossing. We may or may not…
This past fall we drove fifteen minutes to the beach for our son to soak in salt water before he had to return to landlocked Tennessee later that evening. The…
Do you teeter between believing (A) God orchestrates a life-giving plan for you and (B) God orchestrates a life-giving plan for the world with you as a tiny thread in…
A group of people from different races, religious denominations, ages and backgrounds meets at our house every Tuesday night. After we overeat a potluck dinner, we begin our meeting with…