“A man’s greatest treasure….” How would you finish that proverb in today’s (July 8) One Year Bible reading, Proverbs 18:22? The answer is, as one commentator seems to imply, “a rudder.” Seriously. And what does a rudder do? Rudders are the primary steering control, for going straight. Rudders are shaped so as to reduce drag, […]
Letter: Look Up, Often
My wife had lost four pounds since the week before. “Clinically, you’re doing worse,’ the doctor said. “How aggressive do you want to be in attacking this cancer?” My wife replied, “I don’t want to be sick. It isn’t worth it.” “We’ll find a way forward,” the doctor said. That morning, when we had arrived […]
Letter: Only Two
“The first tree-lined mile is easy and beautiful, however….” So begins the description of the Lover’s Lane Loop, a 5.8 mile hike to Sol Doc Falls and back in the Olympic National Park. And so begins married life as well. Easy. Beautiful. In love. However. “However, as you proceed upstream the trail gets steeper and […]
Letter: Sustained
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, […]