I really didn’t intend to get up. Hitting the sack at 10:30 meant 3:00 was a mere 4 ½ hours away. Too short of a night, in my book. After all, last week I had written about the need for stewardship of the “temple,” and I know my “temple” doesn’t…
Like many people this time of year, I got to looking at the calendar and compared how much time is left in the year with how much “vacation time” I have available. More than I’ll use, it seems, but thought I should make a stab at it! I did feel…
A little over seven years ago, thanks to the generosity of some good friends, we spent a week in Palm Desert, California. Not my first choice in places to live, but sure is a great place to visit in early March! We flew into San Diego, hopped in the rental…
Since I’m technically on vacation, my writing time is quite limited. Nevertheless, on a recent hike we came across a fascinating scene. Until last week, we had never been to Minnesota’s North Shore—that stretch of Lake Superior shoreline stretching from Duluth to Grand Portage. A few weeks ago, I lamented…
It’s that wonderful season of the year when the weather has finally warmed enough that the patio becomes a mini retreat site. I frequently find myself there early in the morning for some quiet time of reading, meditation, and prayer. We often return in the evening to read, talk, or…
Spring, finally, has sprung. Two weeks ago, it seemed as if it’d never get here! The last couple of months have been cooler than normal, and I believe cloudier, too. Tree buds opened late. Flowers have delayed their blooming. Garden planting has been put off. I’ve only mowed the lawn…
After my recent episode at the end of a Sunday morning service (I wrote about it last week), it was decided I needed a break. At first, I balked at the word “need.” I mean, a vacation is always nice, but need suggests some kind of deficiency. When I got…
One afternoon last month, while I was working on some mindless routine tasks, a song came on the internet radio station quietly playing in the background. I’d heard it before, a rather pretty, though somewhat melancholy, tune. I couldn’t make out all the lyrics—wasn’t trying to, either—but the repeated phrase,…
After having a relatively minor bout with COVID a few weeks ago, my bride finally felt up to getting out for a bit of a hike. We thought about heading south to Matthiessen State Park near LaSalle, Illinois—a little sister park to her more famous neighbor, Starved Rock. Both have…
“Nature speaks a silent message that can be heard when conditions are just right.… Truth exists in wild places—where the air is clean, the water pure, the land free.” Scott Stillman, Nature’s Silent Message Honestly, I’m not very good at listening out there…there where the sounds of silence speak volumes…
