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The Holy Spirit had a trick up her sleeve this morning—thankfully. I needed it. On the Feast of Pentecost I had slipped into my wonted pew for the 8:00 service, the early gathering I prefer precisely for its quiet and lack of crowds, and immediately I had the sense I often have at religious festivals. […]

I awake to a clatter at the back door. Erratic rapping on glass. I come down to investigate and find a scarlet cardinal sitting on the railing, then flying beak first into the all-glass door. A flutter and crash, regrouping on the railing, head cocking this way and that, then attacking the glass again, and […]

“It was a mess—my whole life just sort of ended.” I hear this as I pour the woman another cup of tea. She’s not talking to me, but to another woman. I am just the server, but I overhear their conversation. “I couldn’t take care of the kids, my husband’s job wouldn’t let up.” Pam […]

All I expected from Hola Cuban Café was a good Cuban sandwich. I got that, but I also received a life story that was incomparable. We placed our order and were sitting at a table on the porch, waiting. The Florida sun felt good. At the other table a man was also on hold. He […]

Epitaph on a Tyrant W.H. Auden (1907-1973) Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;He knew human folly like the back of his hand,And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,And when he cried the little children died in […]

The Invasion has begun, the headline blares in towering letters, all in bold.  Shelling. Number dead. Civilians covered in blood.  When I sit quietly this morning, the reading—something about God’s unconditional love—seems flat, distant, untrue. Then the book closes and it is time to settle in, quiet the mind, be still and invite the Presence. […]

After almost 19 years prowling this house, Milo has died. It was a slow going, and he needed a little help in the end to make it out of his failed body. I carried him in to the vet’s wrapped in a towel. Carried him out in a bag which I covered with the towel […]

I am not one for striking up conversations on airplanes, but my brother is. He was maybe 22, he told me this past weekend we spent together, and this older man sat beside him. A simple conversation began. As the man spoke, Michael sensed that he was somehow successful, even wise. So he asked the […]