When there’s a parade in town, it almost always goes through the Old Town neighborhood.  The Memorial Day parade, which is coming up soon, isn’t the largest, but it might be the longest, wending its way from the downtown area through the Old Town and Sunrise neighborhoods to the old cemetery. Large American flags line…

Yesterday, after a weekend of shuffling furniture and boxes, cleaning, and installing flooring in the last room in the house that really needed new flooring, I found myself incredibly exhausted, not to mention full of body aches.  The room looked beautiful, but I looked bedraggled.  Normally, I would preach the virtues of pacing oneself and…

Over the past few years, some Christians have taken up a cry against the use of the greeting “Happy Holidays!” In fact, I’ve actually seen people hiss through their teeth and mutter, “I hate that!” when wished holiday happiness. Some others loudly respond with a “Merry CHRISTMAS!” I’ve had trouble understanding such bitter rejection of…

I recently read a quote from novelist Ursula K. Le Guin about the nature of love. She said that love is not a static thing, like a stone. It’s more like bread, which has to be made, and be made new every day. I like this description of love, because it recognizes that, just like…

The world is an incredible place. It diminishes and grows minute by minute, as some people pass from this life and others arrive as newborns. But if we happen to experience the passing of many people in a short period of time, be they loved ones or acquaintances, we’re likely to feel the loss very…

Just this month, I started to get back into the task of refinishing the endless woodwork in the house.  I’m tackling an area that’s never been painted, so lacquer thinner, a respirator, and lots of elbow grease are the main tools.  The work tends to go a bit more quickly than paint removal, but without the…

Written in the Fall of 2012 The house renovations are once again on hold as we tend to family and friends. This year has been a rough one for us. In the midst of loss and illness, I’ve been struck by the great value of some old traditions—one of these being the custom of providing…

With so much going on, I haven’t had time to write, so I thought I’d dig into my sermon file. This is an edited version of sermon notes I used when invited to speak at a Unity church, some years ago. The scripture reading was the 8th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, verses 1…

Last week, I was asked to answer a poll question, “When do you put up your Christmas tree?” The choices were something like a.) After Thanksgiving, b.) After December 1st, c.) A week or two before Christmas, d.) Fill in the date. I gleefully filled in the date with, “November 1st!” Well, November 1st might…