haiku: regret

  For words I did not say, the warm hand I withdrew– my own world so large. ********************** For the words I did say, for the pointing judgment– my own world so small. ***********************

haiku: soaring

Last week we had a meeting in the Anatole Hilton. My soul feasted on the view from the 29th floor. The sky, clouds, buildings, maze of highways, and landscape took my breath away. Perspective makes all the difference.  Everything looked completely different and new from that vantage point. The view mesmerized me. But it was the birds that…

‘I’m Nobody. Who are You?’

Britney Spears, uh, no uh, Lindsay Lohan, uh, no uh, Paris Hilton, uh… I’m Nobody. Who are You? by Emily Dickinson I’m nobody. Who are you? Are you nobody too? Then there’s a pair of us–don’t tell! They’d banish us you know. How dreary to be somebody! How public like a frog To tell your name…

Escapism

Last night we picked up the guest speaker for our banquet with a group of special friends and went to a restaurant near the hotel. We celebrated my birthday a day late. Wayne read that Coal Vine’s had received great reviews, so we tried it. I really liked the place. It is an upscale, yet…

The Faces of Fear

It is silly now but as a child, fear gripped my heart at night. In those few moments after my parents switched off the light and before falling asleep, the shadows of the room leaped into monsters. I laid in bed frozen with fear as the form of a dinosaur appeared next to the bed. Then I…

Narcissism

Every American should read Bill Bennett’s book, “The Death of Outrage.” Bennett, an American hero in my eyes, wrote some years ago with clarity and conviction about the lack of public outrage surrounding Bill Clinton’s sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky. In case you haven’t read the book, let me assure you, it is not outdated. Bennett…

Passion

In Ethiopia with Two Ethiopian Jewesses My sister inadvertently paid me a kind compliment the other day. In an email, she was discussing the challenges of parenting. She wrote that it suddenly dawned on her that her young son is much like me: very passionate about life. That her son’s zest for living is offering she and her husband plenty of opportunities to…

A Father’s Look

Wayne and I have been away from our daughter for over two weeks now. We talked to her on the phone this morning. She said she was missing me so much that she read every post on my blog! Ha! Something she would never do if we were home and crossing paths each day. I…

Odyssey

David Holland, in his post yesterday at Blather. Wince. Repeat., discusses a column written by David Brooks in the New York Times, The Odyssey Years. Excellent post. Interesting topic. Brooks’ premise is that there are four stages in life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Shifts in American culture have added two more stages: odyssey and…

Weapons of Life

One of the sobering realities of traveling interntionally several times a year is connecting with suffering believers around the world. These relationships strengthen and encourage my walk with God. Believers, who live outside of the sometimes surreal bubble of American culture and life, fight hot and intense battles of faith. Some are stalwart and heroic, even unto death.