Whether in a court of law where a judge sustains an objection; or in a rowing shell where the sculler sustains a collision; or your wife of 50 years who has always sustained you but is no longer there waiting for you to return – sustained means “to carry on.” When your dreams have been […]
Letter: The Mountain is Yours. Go and Take It.
There was a time in Biblical history when in order to establish more property for a people in which to live they were given the mountain and told to go and take it. There was a time in our country’s history when “in order to establish a more perfect union” the Founding Fathers envisioned an […]
Letter: The Box in the Attic – surviving loss
It lay in the attic near the window – the window such as it was. Eons of wispy cobwebs filtered what little light existed to barely reveal the presence of the old wooden crate nearly obscured in the semi-darkness. Approaching cautiously – the combined fears of falling through the ancient flooring; the startling scurry of […]
Letter: Not Alone
“I sat down on a rock and cried.” My brother was recounting for me what happened that night of July 4, 1979. Just a few days shy of this coming July 4, we were out fishing for salmon on an absolutely beautiful stunning morning. Neither of us got a bite much less catch anything but […]
Letter: His Dog’s Name? Dharma, Not Drama
In Indian religions, dharma is commonly understood as referring to behaviors that sustain life. Like? Like how a dog behaves. Like we humans would do well to behave. Here are the opening lines of Billy Collins’ poem “Dharma.” “The way the dog trots out the front doorevery morningwithout a hat or an umbrella,without any moneyor […]
Letter: A Family that Rows Together
A family that rows together is a family that stays together. That’s because it takes a team, matching strokes, guiding the fragile craft down the course, crossing the finish line in a flourish, in sync (mostly), together (certainly). Such has been our family life. The One Year Bible reading for today, as it every year, […]
Letter: Husbandeth – My Word For Today, Tomorrow, and the Day After That
How I needed this word for today: husbandeth. But when I really needed it was yesterday. And, chances are, I’ll need it tomorrow and the day after that. The word husbandeth occurs only once in all the Bible, and that is in Proverbs 17:27. The Contemporary English Version has it this way: “It makes a […]
Letter: Now I Know Why I Wander
As if I didn’t know before. For this past Father’s Day my family gave me a map. I am a school board director and in a recent cross-state trek for a conference I missed my turn (for which miles out of my way I was not compensated by the way – laughter). It didn’t help […]
Letter: A Most Memorable Man
By Cheryl Calvert, with David Anderson. The Adventures of Nee-Pie and Che-Pie, Chapter Three In maybe every family there’s always that one. Different than the rest. Like a dandelion in a field of daisies. Like a square peg in a round hole. Like a fish out of water. In fact, it was a fish out […]