Show me a sign, take it to the limit, one more time
The occupational therapist handed me the instruction sheet and said, “Limit splint removal to hygiene and flute.” Limit, to restrict, the point beyond which something does not or may not extend, a restriction. Not words I like to hear or heed. But this time, it was...
Though God made us simple, we complicate ourselves
Walking outside around our mountain house this week, I think about God’s plan to complicate His creation with exquisite complexity. Redbud blossoms, Fothergilla blooms, purple asters and violets. The natural world presents an amazing array of intricacy, including...
If we believe, we are already clean, already there
“Enough already with this aging stuff!” I muttered. It was late Friday night, and I was standing in our walk-in closet, taking off my socks before going to bed. But I lost my balance, catching myself from falling at the expense of my right wrist. “I'm no longer...
From shouts of Hosanna to shouts of blame—why the shift?
They heaped blame upon His head. “Crucify him,” the crowd screamed. And so, He became the scapegoat; Jesus took the blame for us. But just days before the crowd outside Jerusalem had spread cloaks and branches on the road and shouted, “Hosanna!” Why the sudden...
You can make it if you hurry, then slow hurry down
“We can just make it if you hurry,” her husband shouts over the roar of two skiffs’ engines, hers and his. Their boats are heavy with salmon pulled from the Gulf of Alaska, and they must deliver their catch to the tender on time. That means, instead of going around...
What do I dedicate myself to in the third stage of life?
When we woke to steady rain on Saturday morning, I wondered, “What do I dedicate my time to today?” Not yard work or dog-walking or housecleaning or cooking, since Keith was going to our church’s Men’s Breakfast and would only want a snack later. Yes, to reading,...