What we mean when we say, “I need.”
“I need to stay in touch with my friends,” my student said tearfully. Maggie [name changed] was a senior in the parochial high school where I taught, a good student, and one of our top STARs—Student Technology Advisers—who assisted at the Help Desk and...
To deny or not to deny the undeniable
I could not deny it. I had gossiped about someone to a friend. Lying in bed that night, I thought about the incident and rationalized: the circumstances, what I said, and to whom probably won’t matter. But continuing to deny the undeniable absolutely would, because...
Pandemic Love for Neighbors as Ourselves
Curly, Cato, and Slick - photographed by "Shirley" “I’m writing about the pandemic and would like your opinion,” I said to my neighbor Shirley [name changed] as we walked. We had three dogs on leash—mine and two from another neighbor who is unable to walk much. ...
Coffee Relationships: Mother, Self, Spouse, Friend
Coffee with mother Every afternoon, after school, Mother makes herself a cup of decaf coffee laced with milk, and my sisters and I pour ourselves Cokes. Then we sit around the dining room table while Mother listens to our woes. I tell her about my...
Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy and Orthopathy
You can’t have orthodoxy without orthopraxy. While thumbing through the March issue of Christianity Today last week, I came upon this article and quote from Tish Harrison Warren: “… orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right action) are so essentially entwined...
One Small Step for one of the 1951-ers
The 1951-ers Last week, the 1951-ers met at Vanaprastha for lunch—our third gathering. I wrote about the second here and here. Below is a story from our first meeting last summer. Enjoy! *** “Where were you when you heard JFK was...