I can’t tell you which is the chicken or which the egg. I love my Granny, Barbara Frances (New) Lawrence, like my epicardium; her dying in 1993 did not slow the ways I see myself in her -or- her in myself (I can’t say which it is). One way I’ve always aligned myself with her […]
I’m going public. I’m not going to keep it a semi-secret any longer! Besides, those most closely affected don’t read my blog, as far as I know. I am running a social experiment on my congregation. I am planting a Presbyterian Women circle, to see whether it will grow. I just haven’t told any of […]
I’m reading a multi-article feature in O Magazine’s most recent issue (October 2017, vol 8 no 10) — “Your Cancer, Your Breasts.” Good stuff: medical information in approachable language, personal stories from women who went through various of the procedural options, sidebars with definitions… …all the things that happen when magazines like this do their best […]
The Most Anthologized Poems of the Last 25 Years Back at the end of July, a friend waved this article at me, figuring I’d be interested… after all, it has the words “poem” and “anthology” in the title: something I do, and someplace I aspire to more frequently be. Plus there’s always the school-y part […]
The light of God that shines in Jesus Christ is transmitted, first of all, through the prism of the biblical witnesses. As long as the church remains faithful to the self-communication of the triune God, it will acknowledge the priority and authority of the scriptural witness in its life and mission. At the same time, […]
When I was a new violist, one of the most intriguing and transgressive things to do was to play a loosened string. Take the peg of, for example, the D-string, and turn it clockwise a bit. Or a few full turns, while you’re at it! The string’s voice shifts to a low “flub, flub” as […]
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. —Psalm 36:7 Last night I saw so many of my friends in Florida posting Facebook posts and texts of their children and families gathered together to ride out Hurricane Irma. One friend posted a photo […]
During the closing worship gathering at the Glen, each year there is an anointing. Consecrated oil is handed to a few de facto elders of the group, who stand in the front, as at stations, and the assembly lines up as they choose. It’s the tools of art-making that receive the anointing: hands, mostly, but throats […]
(with apologies to composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach—no slight meant to the classic “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes!”) In all unfairness to B, who reads this blog, today’s fifteen-minute piece will be How I ended up with Lapsang Souchong, –or– Tea-picking must be taught So: B comes back to live at Fawn Run […]
As in, “caught flatfooted.” I’d thought the morning held enough time to blog, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I worked on my homework. After class I was going to blog, but I connected with another student — classmate in both my classes, as it works out — and by the time I’d strolled with […]
