Stuck Here Sitting on the weathered front porch and watching the placid lake splayed before me in splendor and the dense, heady evergreens towering heavenward, I hear the wild geese honking and smell the pine. The morning sun scrubs my face with light—the kind that seeps to the bones and provides a certain depth … More Stuck Here
“But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever” (Duet. 15:16-17). Shackled There is a chain … More Shackled
Painting by Liam Rainsford The Flood Yesterday’s burdens weighed you down — too heavy for the long road as they gathered in the corners of your heart. Let the blueness of that wound you bear today become a scouring tide; let it rise and wash away winter’s broken, brown debris. Let the tears flow, let … More The Flood
Ever-Increasing Light Jewish Sabbaths, Feasts, and More Marking Jewish Themes with Distinction “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Ps. 137:5-6). Wayne and I … More Like No Other
Bluest Ever The Indian Paintbrushes are jealous of the Bluebonnets, and maybe that is why they riot along the roadsides and highways. Bluebonnets don’t care. They prefer to silently parade across the new sprung grass during their seasonal spell in the spring; and certainly, they do not compete with paintbrush strokes of garish neon orange. … More Bluest Ever
The Slice that Cuts Once you grasp the fleetingness of life — and it dawns on you in tiny increments as you grow — you are always savoring the sweetness of living and vitality of those living around you, family and friends who join your journey and increase its treasure. Yet on some indefinable level … More The Slice That Cuts
Resisting Ceremony There is something in the conceit of youthfulness that resists ceremony. Maybe I am a middle-aged woman who still dresses up for church, remembers the Pilgrims on Thanksgiving Day, recites the pledge of allegiance to my country with joy and pride and thinks that formal observance transcends post-modern culture. I am a one who … More Resisting Ceremony
