Why does it take almost eighty years to notice how many shades of green there are in the spring time? As my eyes sweep across the fields and the woods in the distance on my early morning drive to town for the newspaper I see a palette, the palest of greens – almost pastel yellow […]
A Prayer for Thanksgiving Day, 2015
November 25, 2015 by 3 Comments
Dear God, our hearts are full on this Thanksgiving Day. Thank you for all the gifts you have given us: For this fine day, for sunshine and rain, For a natural world that so efficiently sustains and nurtures life, And for life – the cascading, colorful, amazing expression of that energy you have breathed into […]
Mother of Exiles
November 20, 2015 by 2 Comments
There is a lot I love about this country and at the top of the list is that the United States of America, from its inception, has been a nation of immigrants. One of the least attractive dimensions of my country is the way it has treated the only truly native Americans. But what makes […]
I Fear No Evil; For You Are With Me
November 14, 2015 by 4 Comments
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes my lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters… Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me. I turned instinctively to the 23rd Psalm this morning. With each successive atrocity, I experience […]
Lovable Winners?
May 26, 2015 by 5 Comments
During a recent visit to San Diego I became aware once again of the long reach of Chicago Cubs mythology. I wore my Cubs baseball cap during my daily walks and, without exception, was greeted by strangers with a smile and a “Go Cubbies!” and, new this spring, “This Might Be The Year!” The mythology […]
Some Thoughts on Gratitude & a Prayer of Thanksgiving
November 26, 2014 by 2 Comments
It doesn’t have to be the blue Iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot.. just pay attention, then patch a few words together.. this isn’t a contest, but the doorway into thanks… – Mary Oliver, Praying It begins with simply paying attention, noticing, seeing the countless gifts we are given every […]
Thanksgiving Day Prayer
November 27, 2013 by 2 Comments
Praise is due to you, O God…. You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You […]
Some Thoughts and a Prayer for Labor Day
September 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, And prosper for us the work of our hands…. O prosper the work of our hands. Psalm 90: 17 Seamus Heaney died last week. He was one of the finest poets of our time, often called the greatest Irish poet since William Butler Yeats. […]
Hold to the Good 
THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
He pretty much defamed everything I love about my country: The affirmation of the dignity and value of every human being, created with unalienable rights; the open-armed compassion of “Give me your tired, your poor” emblazoned on the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor; the aspiration and slow but steady drive to assure equality […]