How odd that the more forms of communications the 21st century has created, the less we seem to say. Chatter fills the air and mind with both foul and fair words. Daily activities that require direct involvement drain our lives of energy; choosing a contemplative life rather than a reactionary one takes precious time we do not seem to have. When I left teaching some years ago, I set out to study my way through the Bible, not just because I had a generosity of time but to e

They were told a Spirit would pass over all homes.
 Bring a year old lamb—the most perfect male—care for him in your home for four days.
 Slaughter that lamb, roast it over a fire and paint its blood over your doorway. Then eat it quickly, dressed and ready to leave; do not go through your door until morning.
 ************
 That blood saved the life of every first born-both human and animal in that household.
 This was not true for families who did not cla

Looking back, I probably should have known how sick she was, my little Chewy who was often mistaken for a puppy. Lately she had woken me often at night for water, I thought. Now I know it was because her loyal heart was enlarged, beating too fast; she needed oxygen and she needed water. We were on Sanibel in Florida; we came home early because she suffered several seizures and then panic attacks because she could not breathe. We needed to be home. Traffic was slow (it

Sitting at my desk, I watched the dust motes float in the air around me, sparkling in the diminishing sunlight. I knew that teenagers can be cruel because I too was once a teenager. But some teenagers are crueler than others. Her words typically centered on how much she despised her mother, who was too fat, had too many lines on her face, wore awkward clothing and was always lying on the couch after work, exhausted. Her mother was single with more than the girl under he

The most difficult time in life, I’ve read, is raising children (track meets, parties, overnights, homework, grades, tests, friend fights) while balancing time to care for aging parents. Looking back, I have regret. Looking forward, I am apprehensive. The awareness of human frailty quickens, as does anxiety over change and concern of being ignored, overlooked, forgotten. (Larry David: Dad, where’s Mom? Dad: Oh, she died last week. Larry: What? Why didn’t anyone tell me?

Original paintings by Heartbuzz...animation by Grok Imagine

I am a flickering candle of life deep within, protected in a secret and safe place. I am small now, so infinitesimal my presence is not really known. I can feel myself growing, changing as the Spirit of God breathes on my tiny limbs and heart, fanning my living spark. Here I will rest and nourish until I must face my first day with the others He created. But for this moment, I take comfort from the steady rhythmic beat that surrounds me: I take comfort and respond with a

Genesis 1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Original painting from the children's book written by Jon Stiansen "Hoot the Owl and His Forest Friends" and illustrated by K. Housepian Animation by Grok

It was one of those mornings you wake up inexplicably early. Four am, I think. To awaken gently, I reached for my phone to read the news, opening social media first. Because the internet is a living breathing entity, this was how I learned there was no clean water in my part of the world. Lounging in bed, the lists of stores that still sold bottled water were already posted, along with pictures of people waiting in long lines in the dark for a local supermarket to open.

I do not wish to die. Not yet, anyway.
 Nor do I wish my loved ones to pass from this place.
 Yet at the back of my mind niggles this question: am I too comfortable—always knowing what comes next?
 Do I not choose to repeat, over and over, the same mistakes?
 What plans does God have for me, plans that I would mourn if I knew now but later rejoice?
 Everything here is measured: time, performance, beauty, intelligence, work effort, productivity…
 In some ways, there is

Sitting at my desk, I watched the dust motes float in the air around me, sparkling in the diminishing sunlight. I knew that teenagers can be cruel because I too was once a teenager. But some teenagers are crueler than others. Her words typically centered on how much she despised her mother, who was too fat, had too many lines on her face, wore awkward clothing and was always lying on the couch after work, exhausted. Her mother was single with more than the girl under he

Sometimes I think I am invisible. I must have been the other day because you almost slammed me with your SUV. Perhaps because I am invisible you did not see me. I was invisible when I looked for you to talk to me, the day you averted your eyes and walked away (still laughing a wide laugh with your mouth open, your sound echoing down the hall). I’m never invisible when it comes to paying and never when that salesclerk needs someone to spray with perfume. But I cannot be

Little flying creatures we call birds add so much to a life, even if through a mere glance. I love pretty colors, too, and so I painted some birdhouses years ago, not thinking they would be used as homes but just a way to brighten the day. But then, of course as it does, time weathered them and, since I’m not very good at throwing away things I love, I simply moved them just outside my back door.
 ********************
 Off and on for years, various families of Gos

Sanibel Island On gloomy mornings, there is no first light, at least from the view of the earth on which you stand. That does not mean the sun is not there. *************** I had an older friend long ago who had survived her childhood in Hitler’s Germany. 
 After the war, she eagerly left Germany to live in Ohio to build a life and family; she was highly intelligent and eloquent and wrote this of her transition from Germany to the US.
 ”As I settled into my new ho

At the moment Jaime was born, I asked, “Does she have everything?” to which her father laughed and said, “Everything but a ——.”
 Girls were rare in our families, so we certainly expected a boy, whom we would name Peter. Perhaps because she arrived late, her face was perfect: no redness, no baby flaky skin, no sunken cheeks. 
 Her birth was difficult; after, I clearly remember my nurse cuddling her, stroking her exquisite little face and whispering so only I could hear, “I

Thunder Before Storm
 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. “ Matt 25:27 
*************
 They were warned.
 Over and over they had been warned. In the beginning, the plagues caused discomfort, horror: all water turned to blood, millions of gnats covered everything, destroying crops and then came the flies. Oh, the flies. And the sores.
 But because they would not listen, the plagues b

The Eye of God A teacher friend who was very knowledgeable of history chided me once for believing the Great Flood in the Bible actually occurred.
 Many places around the world have such mythology about a global flood, he said, that devastated the earth, accounts which coordinate with local folk tales.
 A bit later, I took a graduate English class with a Christian professor and asked him what to do with such a question. His answer?
 Well, of course, many cultures have si

~Watch every sunrise and sunset you can, and not just in the rear view mirror.

The Word of God provides a structure for the spirit as a skeleton does for the body.