What if . . . Something We Seem Predestined to Ask.

Hello as the beginning of August is beginning to feel like the dog-days-of-summer, While I have heard the phrase numerous times, I knew neither its origin nor its significance overall. I was quite accurate in that it is about the warmest days of summer, and I learned it corresponds the star Canis Major, and itContinue reading “What if . . . Something We Seem Predestined to Ask.”

Episode Two of the Circus

Hello on a Monday afternoon, The week has begun with a plan and some degree of anticipation since I was scheduled for my first of two cataract surgeries this morning. I’ve know for a few years this was on the horizon, but I met that distant boundary was met last September. Unfortunately, the primary providerContinue reading “Episode Two of the Circus”

“. . . life to the lees . . . “

Good morning from the darkness of my little corner, I am always amazed by talented people, those who are artistic (e.g. drawing, painting, sculpting, for instance) as I am not particularly talented. I think of a former student who is now an art teacher, and a recent post illustrated (pun intended) how both of herContinue reading ““. . . life to the lees . . . “”

To Lament or To Learn

Hello from the micro-acre, The summer I did my Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at St. Luke’s in my hometown of Sioux City, there was a lot on my plate. I had been diagnosed with what then was determined to be Ulcerative Colitis, I was on leave from the seminary, was planning a wedding at theContinue reading “To Lament or To Learn”

Only Remembering or Telling What We Want

Hello from yet another February morning, Whether or not it only seems I am looking back at life more frequently or it’s an actuality, I’m unsure, but turning 70 must have something to do with that particular action. And yet as I ponder my life and the events or experiences, the people and places thatContinue reading “Only Remembering or Telling What We Want”

If I Could Do It All Over

Hello from snowy February evening, As I ponder and worry about the world we have created, pensive as I wonder if we will survive the unending chaos that confronts me from all platforms we seem to incessantly absorb, I am reminded of that adage of what if I could go back in time, but knowContinue reading “If I Could Do It All Over”

What Might Have Been

Hello from my small, but comfortable space at the Magee. As I ponder the avenues that are in front of me, and as some of you know, the first 18 months of retirement have been a rollercoaster, I find myself also looking at the paths I have traveled, the choices made, and the consequences ofContinue reading “What Might Have Been”

The Gift: Writing and Feeling

Good afternoon, It’s a typical middle to late Pennsylvania fall day; the morning revealed a variety of window scrapping options, depending on altitude of your location. It’s amazing how a few hundred feet, or even less, affects what kind of precipitation occurs. I remember living in Laurium , MI, 11 miles north of Houghton, whichContinue reading “The Gift: Writing and Feeling”

Struggling with my Scars

Hello from the hotel, I am continually amazed by the way our lives seem to be in an ending tension of sorts, the sort of push and pull between things that seem diametrically opposed. We are, on occasion, profoundly short-sighted while simultaneously planning things long-term. We are ostensibly pleased with our daily existence while worryingContinue reading “Struggling with my Scars”

Every Silence Screams Volumes

Hello on a rainy and somewhat foreboding fall day, During the night I heard the rain steadily pelt my window, sounding more like sleet, something yet to come (perhaps sooner than I desire) as we move into November. As I sit in Starbucks in the library doing work, or attempting, I am struggling with formulasContinue reading “Every Silence Screams Volumes”