EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, I shuffled onto the backyard deck for a little while. I was finally away from the office, the glaring overhead lights, the computer demanding I change my password . . . again . . . so I can handle the demands awaiting me in the mailbox. “This is just what I needed to look at.” Then, I lifted my eyes to the gray sky and the chatter of the birds calling and answering each other. What a relief it was from the droaning chatter of humans for eight hours. But

AFTER THE FUNERAL, back inside her house, I meandered down the hallway to the other end, away from the ladies in our family who had...

I GREW UP in a time when mothers would boil real chicken eggs on Easter weekend and gather their children around the kitchen table for...

I SHALL ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL to the gadget people in my family who invested in the cutting-edge technology available in my first five...

IF ANYONE IS SKILLED at something, it’s usually easy for them to prove it. A good carpenter can square a corner without even measuring. A professional chef can dice an onion so fast the onion barely has time to object. Meanwhile, some of us demonstrate our abilities by proving—repeatedly—that we probably shouldn’t be left unsupervised with power tools and sharp objects. Then there are the rest of us…who mostly discover our talents by learning what we are not good at. The othe

I MADE THE DEADLINE for Christmas cards from Shutterfly to receive them by Christmas AND received extra discounts! I believe I’ll get my...

(Inspired by Alice ) (7 Meditations from Psalm 34) 1) NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, say, “Thank you!” to God—every chance you get! It's always...

He’d grown up “going to church.” Many understand the nuances of that statement. And so, before he committed to non-employment, he wanted...

AN ANCIENT RIDDLE frames our personal change-for-the-better this way: “The edge of a sword becomes keener through honing, and the fragrance of the plum blossom sharpens in the bitter cold.” Life can be harsh sometimes, right? We have good times and bad. But if we have also learned by experience that extremes can make us stronger and better. . . if we allow it. We can decide to turn hard times into great times because, through time, we discover that we have that power. Since w

I HAPPENED UPON a friend the other day, and as friends do we immediately began to catch up. It was good to spend time with someone I...

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I was permitted the great luxury of being one. That may not sound extraordinary, but it is. My parents created for me an ever-expanding “kindergarten” (a child’s garden) where curiosity was not trimmed back like an unruly hedge but encouraged to climb the fence. They unfolded the world slowly, at a pace my small legs could keep. They did not rush me into adulthood as though childhood were an inconvenience to be endured. My father was a master of imaginativ

SOLOMON SAYS there is “A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to...

For her seventh Birthday Remembering Rayleigh Elyse (A Poem from Pappa) All she ever really wanted Was to be loved—as a human. To know...

AS I ENTER and exit my bedroom there is a portrait of you in the hands of your Uncle Ron, Rayleigh. I’ve grown accustomed to it being...

A YOUNG WOMAN WAS MURDERED over too much mayonnaise on a sandwich. That sentence should stop us cold. It happened in the “city too busy to hate”—the city where I first drew breath. An argument flared, anger rose, and before anyone had time to think, a life was gone over something that could have been wiped away with a napkin. She had a name. She had people who loved her. Someone somewhere still expects to hear her voice again. And yet her life ended over something so small. W

AS I UNDERSTAND IT, the critical difference between Knowledge and Wisdom is this: Knowledge is having all the facts (or at least...

EVERYONE I KNOW has many concerns. I sometimes listen as friends entrust their woes to me. I used to attempt advice. I don’t do that...

BIRTHDAYS CAN BE SUCH FUN celebrations. We made it one more year! My wife and I have a running joke throughout our time together, which...

A Commentary on My First Retirement (2020): AS THE YEARS have rolled by, I’ve noticed something unsettling: my opinions keep changing. One of the biggest shifts involves tension. I used to think the goal of life was to eliminate it entirely. Zero tension. Smooth sailing. Permanent vacation. A hammock ministry. Now I’m not so sure. Before you decide I’ve finally misplaced my last marble, consider this: any stringed instrument without proper tension is useless. A guitar with l

AROUND MY SEVENTEENTH BIRTHDAY, one of my uncles played for me a recording of some Bluegrass music. I had never heard that sound. To be...