lenten journal
I haven’t written for a couple of days because we shipped up to Boston to surprise our foster daughter for her thirtieth birthday. We pulled off the surprise and had a wonderful whirlwind of a celebration. We awoke this morning to the Durham version of the stormy weather covering
lenten journal
This morning I watched the ESPN documentary on Jim Valvano and the 1983 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion team from North Carolina State. For those of you who don’t know, NC State was the longest of long shots that year and Valvano’s life was cut short by cancer.
lenten journal
we’re a couple hours past our solstice sunset and tucked into the delicate balance of light and dark that make our old house hum my heart sings along with all it remembers one of our porch lights appears to have given up and left the lighting to the other
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Some days the news makes me angry. Some days it makes me sad. On rare occasions, it brings me to despair. Today is one of those days. After dinner tonight, I read this article in the Huffington Post that said both the assault weapons ban and the limits on high
lenten journal
we drove home at dusk from our day of errands and dreaming over coffee the sunset was hidden by the foggy veil that showed us only enough road to to keep us moving along every turn of the tires pushed back the curtain enough for another step as we talked
lenten journal
My semi-regular Sunday synthesis of NPR and morning worship began in my kitchen and a segment on Weekend Edition Sunday called “Reminder: Our Memories are Less Reliable Than We Think.” Charles Fernyhough, a researcher from England, has written a book called Pieces of Light that looks at how memory works
lenten journal
For most of the past week I’ve been looking forward to a surprise. Ginger told me she had an adventure planned for this morning. Last night she told me I needed to be ready to walk out the door at eight. I was, even though I had no earthly
lenten journal
About two weeks after I started substitute teaching at Charlestown High School -- over twenty years ago -- the assistant headmaster called me into her office one day after school and said, “You like English, right?” By the time the conversation ended, I was filling in for one of the
lenten journal
one afternoon long ago I stumbled upon Albert Einstein sitting on a stair a map of the constellations at his feet what I remember is the playful look in his eye -- as though the universe was intended as a source of joy today is his birthday -- and Pi
lenten journal
Sometimes you get on a roll -- I mean I get on a roll and I forget things I already know. Last night I got going on the idea that Jesus didn’t sing and it all fell together so nicely until I got up this morning to find notes
lenten journal
I can remember buying the record. Vinyl. 1979 -- my first year in seminary and her first record, self-titled: Rickie Lee Jones . The radio hit was “Chuck E.’s in Love,” but the record was full of great things beyond what was fed to the general public. I loved the
lenten journal
Last week at my church’s series on Poverty in Durham, one of the speakers said the biggest difference between those who hit on hard times and end up homeless and those who hit upon hard times and do not is the latter have a network -- they have people