“Those who are sowing in tears…will sing when they reap.”
–Psalm 126
Continue readingThere’s nothing sacred about a crucifixion.
Continue readingPrison ministry, I’ve discovered, provides a sure-fire cure for blindness. (But it’s perhaps not always as effective in remedying other physical or spiritual defects.)
Continue readingAt last arrives the time for a personal “hosana” or two. Fortunately, it comes with a lesson.
Continue readingIt’s a good 400 paces, maybe 450, heading north from the Visitor’s parking lot to the Gatehouse at Menard Correctional Center. Once inside, you retrace almost every one of those steps, heading south along Front Street, in order to reach the Chapel.
No big deal on a nice day. But when nasty weather rears, the walk can be brutal.
Continue readingI looked it up: a large round galvanized stock tank weighs about 175 pounds, empty.
So very odd then, I thought, to see just such a steel tank suspended 25 feet aloft and crumpled like foil against the trunk of a maple tree in the farmhouse yard.
Continue readingOdd, isn’t it? When you’re 6 or 8 it feels like liberation to no longer have a Designated Nap Time (DNT) as part of the daily routine. When you’re 68, you come to see the DNT as one of life’s most profound little blessings.
Continue readingOn the day after Ash Wednesday, a certain 97-year-old of my close acquaintance emerged hale and hearty from her latest adventure.
Continue readingJesus, did you ever eat a snickerdoodle? Or how about a molasses cookie? Any cookie at all?
Continue reading