The Christmas Tree farm, in addition to cut-your-own Christmas trees, featured a corn maze to get lost in, and a pumpkin patch. Because the tractor had broken down just as we were placing our tree on the tractor’s trailer, we decided to wait for a replacement vehicle given the tree my wife had selected was […]
Lakewood
Across the Fence: Caroling
I come from a musical family. We were all singers, and wherever we traveled, we sang traditional songs and, in Christmas season, carols. My father and I improvised harmonies. Advent Sundays were a foursome, sometimes with guests, singing along to my father’s guitar strumming. And, of course, as a semi-pro soloist, I sang on stages […]
Letter: No Shortcuts To Success
In simple computer language, the three keys in the accompanying photograph are shortcuts. Pressed in conjunction with other keys, they enable various functions to be performed more quickly, almost without thought, thus making learning easier. Or so we think. Upon discovering my computer keyboard the other night, my almost-two-year-old granddaughter took the time to pry […]
Letter: The Church In COVID Crisis At Christmas
The Nativity on the shelf was missing all the usual figurines except for a single angel perched on the manger roof prepared to make an announcement that this year would not be heralded by it, much less by a multitude of heavenly host. A policeman guarded the entrance. There would be no admission. Not this […]
Across the Fence: Branches of a Saint
Every year since I remember, my mother used to buy some budded, bare branches on December 4. They were most often willow or hazelnut branches, as these seemed to bud pretty much as the earliest in Germany. They looked somewhat austere; and they were usually placed into a puristic designer vase on a medium height […]
Letter: Living Their Nine Lives
Cats have nine lives because they have a death wish. Running in front of cars, needing rescue from a tree or housetop or letting their curiosity get the best of them, they dance with their own demise. Our cat Tilly – short for Atilla the Hun – is a feline who has, maybe, six lives […]
Letter: “Ten And Two” – The Gift Of Time
My father taught me how to drive a car. On a huge, abandoned slab of concrete I maneuvered the car through a course defined by the weeds which grew in the many cracks. There was nothing to hit that would damage the car – or dent an ego, either. “Just keep your hands at ten […]
Letter: Severely Restricting Religious Freedom During COVID-19 Is Not An Intolerable Act
Seeking repeal of the so-called “Intolerable Acts” of 1775, the first Continental Congress sent Britain’s King George III a petition for redress of grievances which in turn led to Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” speech. But severely restricting any of our freedoms, including religious freedom, during COVID-19 is not an intolerable act. Pushing religious liberty […]
Letter: Frogs In A Kettle, Sheep In His Pasture
What’s the difference? And how is the church today being led astray? Apart from the obvious – frogs hop between lily pads, sheep wander between pastures – as to metaphors there’s not a lot of difference. A frog, so the experiment goes, will jump out of a pot of boiling water but if placed in […]