advent journal
Today was my birthday, so I’m am finding my way to the keyboard in the waning moments to say I am glad to be alive and aging. Birthdays at our house are intentionally surprises. The person being celebrated is given information about the day on a need to know
advent journal
One of the highlights of our time in Durham was the monthly gathering at Fullsteam Brewery for “Beer and Hymns.” Jesse DeConto and his bandmates led us in singalongs, both sacred and secular. One of those Sunday nights was the first time I ever heard “Canticle of the Turning.” my
advent journal
a shared table It is not news to say I love to cook for people. I have told the story of our Thursday Night Dinners many times. As I have tried to negotiate life without a regular income, two friends from church, Gus and Mike, suggested we host ticketed dinners
advent journal
zoom before the word was a way to talk across the pandemic or sent kids around the room Zoom was the nickname of one who captivated my country with the way he played football I was a child in Zambia kicking soccer balls in the backyard and chanting his name
advent journal
most of our stories go untold to those around us or perhaps they are unheard misunderstood because they we are not fluent in each other it’s unfair I suppose to say anything about most of our stories as though they could be collected in a single volume the library
advent journal
In this last week before my sixty-sixth birthday, I started something new: I became a Lyft driver. The idea came from my cousin who does so herself in Texas. We were catching up and talking about ways to make a little cash and she suggested I look into the service.
advent journal
One of the realities of my life is I am not hard to overhear. I would love to say my hearing loss is primarily to blame, but I have talked loudly all of my life. I have a booming voice, as they say. As my hearing loss has become profound
advent journal
I would love to tell you I remember who gave me this recipe. As you can see from the photograph, it has been around a long time and, based on the “this one” written and circled, it replaced one I had used previously. It has also erased the memory of
advent journal
repeating myself if someone says they are going through the motions we take it to mean the motions are meaningless acts of resignation things we can do in our sleep but I would suggest that the story is not so simple the motions are memories or at least they hold
advent journal
measured existence I can measure a cup of flour, pour a pound of sugar but I am at a loss to quantify how much grief weighs how long a heart stays bro- ken how far it is to forgiveness or the speed of the sound of loneliness I cannot serve
advent journal
I have no idea how long Guilford has hosted a tree lighting on the Green, but we have managed to be there with several hundred of our closest neighbors for all but one of the seven Christmases we have been in town, the one exception being 2020. You remember 2020.
advent journal
Here is a story I haven’t told in a while. In December of 1983 I was working as a chaplain at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. My roommate, Bruce Reece, owned the condo we shared in North Dallas--well, then it was North Dallas; now it is almost downtown.