Marching upward to…

Marching upward to…

Very early in our marriage, shortly after our post-honeymoon arrival in France, a friend invited us to go for a walk with him. We eagerly accepted, thinking this would be a good way for Sue to get to know some of the folks I’d met the previous year. On Saturday...
Lives in process

Lives in process

In the era before computers (there really was one!) vacationers traveled with camera cases in which they kept rolls of light-sensitive film. As photo-worthy occasions arose, those cameras were frantically removed from the case and aimed at the desired subject, not...
After the Wait

After the Wait

It’s the final game of the NHL playoffs, the game is tied in second overtime. Both teams are exhausted but salivating over the possibility of taking home the much-coveted Stanley Cup. Some furious skating, lightning-speed passing of the puck, back and forth, back and...
His ways are not our ways

His ways are not our ways

Canadian art films were, once upon a time, notorious for ending mysteriously, with no resolution to the storyline. They left the viewer in disbelief that two hours had been ‘invested’ only to get stung with a non-ending, with the challenge of filling in the blanks,...
Kingdom Logic

Kingdom Logic

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith,  is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.  It’s our handle on what we can’t see.” Hebrews 11:1 The MESSAGE “Now faith brings our hopes into reality...
Let’s be going

Let’s be going

“One way to put the Gospel in a nutshell is this: you are more wicked than you ever dared believe and yet, you are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than you ever dared hope.” Pastor/Author Tim Keller, 1950-2023 Shortly before his homegoing last Friday morning,...
Please take a seat

Please take a seat

N.B. Knowing that friends in Europe will be reading, and being confounded by parts of this note, highlights for me our American behavior, truly (amusingly?) unique in all the world. Several years ago, the first Krispy Kreme donut shop opened in Minneapolis, Minnesota....
And… that’s a wrap!*

And… that’s a wrap!*

There are some life passages that mark some people more than others. I remember graduating from High School, and the shivery sense of liberation at having completed my mandatory education. It lasted the whole day! The next day reality set in. I wanted to go to college...
No long faces

No long faces

The dictionary dampens the word ‘celebrate’ when placing it in a religious context, formalizing it and stripping it of joy, making it a rite duly, solemnly, performed. Otherwise, the word connotes party, boisterous rejoicing, exuberant happiness. So, when we church...
Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

In the fantasy musical, The Wizard of Oz, the title character hides behind a curtain and uses special sound and lighting effects to intimidate and impress his audiences. His hiding is also to cover up the fact that he is a small, pitiable man, unsure of himself and...