“Danny called today,” the Preacher told me, when I got home from work one day. I felt a smile start in my soul. Dr. Daniel Gales. In all the years I’ve written this column, I’ve never given a shout-out to those elected to oversee congregations of their denomination within a …
I’ve learned some things about romance over my life. · Flowers wither, gifts pile up, and too many chocolates make you chubby. If that kind of romance is all you’ve got, your relationship won’t survive. · The occasional romantic gesture sweetens even old marriages. · The most romantic offerings rise …
The bloodcurdling midnight scream woke our granddaughter. She flew to the window in time to see something white fall from a tall spruce several yards beyond the house. The dogs heard it too. They rushed the area, yapping and barking at something circling above. A predator on the wing, gunning …
Everyone of every age feels hopeless sometimes. Like someone or something sucked the chocolate off our raisins. And although tasty, a raisin is just an ugly dried-up grape after all. I enjoy raisins, but like life, they’re better with chocolate. Especially when times are tough, we all wish for better. Better …
In 2004, my cousin Eldonna and I travelled to India. During part of our time in that country, we stayed with an Indian family I’d only known through correspondence. While there, we received news that Eldonna’s mother in Saskatchewan had died unexpectedly. With no cell phones, we hadn’t been in …
A dog, I am. Cash, as in Johnny. And cold Cash. And (the one I like best), “Grab the Cash and run!” When Kathleen picks up my harness and leash and puts on her shoes I know what’s up. “Takin’ a dash with Cash,” she tells the Preacher. But she doesn’t …
It’s behind us now, 2020. Looking over our shoulder at the calendar most people are ready to toss, some would say, “It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times.” (Sorry, Charles Dickens). Some of us (myself included) lost loved ones. For others, their children became strangers, their …
Queen Elizabeth II once referred to 1992 as an ‘annus horribilis’; Latin for “horrible year.” During a speech marking her 40th anniversary as Queen, she said it was “…not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.” Most of my readers likely feel the same about 2020. If the past …
Years ago, as a Christmas gift to myself, I memorized the Nativity account in Luke 2. I saw images I hadn’t seen since a child. My ears tuned to hear ecstatic praise in the night sky. I heard echoes—the pounding of the shepherds’ hearts, the thunder of their racing feet. …
I’m all tangled up, but not in Christmas lights. In information and misinformation. In wondering how my Christian faith intersects with the point of a needle. A vaccination needle. The COVID-19 vaccine hovers on the world’s horizon, a Messiah-reminiscent shaft of hope piercing our long pandemic night. But like all previous …
