Each of us is a storyteller. Inside of us stories swirl in a stew of past and present, bumping into one another, forming and reforming. Favorites stay at the surface, evolving only slightly due to the number of times we share them. Our neural pathways somehow hold this collection of regulars together, finding consistent and…
Category: Personal Essay
For the Sport of It
Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number, creatures both small and great. There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it. – Psalm 104:26-27 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer Translation How many times when my kids asked…
Without Being Angry
I have no pithy or poignant start to this reflection. I tried to manufacture one but they all felt empty and forced. How to begin an essay that lets the world know I’ve gotten a divorce? No matter how I begin, once “divorce” appears on the screen, there won’t be attention for much else. Among…
Facing Down Flying Fears
I sit on a plane for the first time in 17 years. I last flew to my brother’s second wedding on Sea Island, GA. We lived in Arlington, VA at the time where I served a large church as their Associate Rector for Youth and Young Adults. Within a year, my boss added “Families with…
Buzzards and Following a Lost Crowd
Growing up on a farm, I learned to watch for buzzards. One or two soaring overhead is no cause for concern but when you see a kettle of them, swirling around, you begin to grow uneasy, wondering if they smell a wild animal or one of your cows. A buzzard will sniff out a dead…
Tears and strength
I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m sorry I can’t hold my tears. They just seem to come out of me and I have no control over them. I’m sorry. Do you have any tissues? I’m sorry I’m crying. I know I should be over this by now. I’m sorry. Women tend to…
All the Noises…Still Discovering
A grandfather clock stands in the entryway of my parents home. It’s the first thing guests see when they’re all through the door. When it arrived, my dad showed my brother and me how it works, telling us to be mindful never to overwind it. We were fascinated by the mechanisms and I looked forward…
Listening To What Our Bodies Have to Tell Us: A Lesson From My Shoulder
I have a bad shoulder. I never broke it or injured it in any way. I don’t have a torn rotator cuff or labrum, and never had to have surgery on it. You might say, in a way that this is all a self-inflicted injury. Since my freshman year in college, my right shoulder has…
“Doubting” Thomas: A GOOD Role Model
The Sunday after Easter is known by several names. Most people will call it, “Low Sunday” because it is one of the Sundays churches experience the lowest attendance in worship. Everyone makes a big push on Easter to get the family to church, especially the members who normally don’t come. I think that takes so…
The Prodigal and the Pigs
A few weeks ago I stopped by the barn because I saw my brother walking alongside it. He had a terrible scowl on his face and I asked him what had happened. “I got attacked by a stupid pig!” He had grabbed one of the piglets to tag its ear. Apparently the mama didn’t take…
Prayerful Kitchen 