Tomorrow, April 3, marks the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech to the Memphis sanitation workers in 1968 -- his last speech before he was assassinated. After spending the morning talking with some church friends about what it means to be a peacemaker, I offer his words
As I drove to work this morning, I heard a story on NPR about advances in 3-D technology that would make it possible to watch without “those ridiculous glasses.” They interviewed an ophthalmologist, Dr. Samuel Marsh, who has pioneered a surgical procedure that alters the eye so glasses are no
for David Gentiles it’s not the anniversary of anything other than the second March without you here still you showed up unexpectedly at a meeting I had with some people to talk about a dream and then again tonight in Nathan’s new book though I had a hunch
I spent the day packing boxes, loading them into the U-Haul, and unpacking them in their new location. In this year when I’m not going to have to move to a new house, my school decided to move to a new building. We’ve anticipated the move since the
the reason we don’t go spinning into space as the world turns they say is gravity as though being weighed down is what does it we sat around the dinner table with one who wrote a book that mattered to Ginger and was held in place by the power
the eighth grader who wants to know if I’ve graded the paper he turned in yesterday. the neighbor ranting on the listserv taking out his frustration on the rest of us. the guy at the shelter who helped me carry in the chicken for tomorrow night’s meal. the
The passage for today was Jesus meeting the woman at the well. My sonnet was particularly affected by the following video. Thanks to my friend Down Under, Simon, for posting it. sunday sonnet #23 Peace, Milton
I spent the better part of the morning with some friends from church as a part of a Lenten Bible study. We are focusing on the Beatitudes. As I was preparing to lead the group, I was struck by the fact that Matthew takes just four chapters to move from
Here’s more of Stephen Dunn , once again, from my reading today. These are the opening words to a chapter titled, “The Hand Reaching Into the Crowd.” We live in a graceless age. Accordingly the word grace (in its various parts of speech) has lost power and significance, though it
It’s the end of the grading term at school, the students are frantically trying to finish the rough drafts of their research papers, I’m faced with grade reports – so I spent my free period reading poetry. This morning as I left the house, I picked up my well-worn
I feel least like a teacher when I turn in the grades and distill the interactions with my students to one single letter plus or minus after weeks of asking them to make their offerings take their chances all too quickly all that matters is one letter to somehow sum
I’ve been mulling over one sentence that I carried away from the Evening with Garrison Keillor the other night. I remember much more of the evening, but his closing word on one story has stayed with me in a more disquieting way as I have wondered how to write