In his Gospel, the evangelist John describes a poignant scene as Jesus celebrates his final Passover meal. Jesus… got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel […]
Category Archives: Awe and Wonder
Upstream with Mary Oliver
Exactly two weeks after I referred to American poet Mary Oliver in my post “Observe with Passion,” she died of lymphoma in her home in Florida. I suspect if you asked, Mary Oliver would tell you she lived 84 good years, most of them spent with her partner, photographer Molly Malone Cook at their home […]
Snowshoe
I was an active child spending as many waking hours out of doors as I could. I played with my brother, I played with my friends, I played with kids I didn’t even know. “Chip up” football and baseball games on the field next to our house on West Housatonic Street in Pittsfield where they […]
Acupuncture, Martin Sheen and the Rosary
As I completed my income taxes over the weekend – not convinced that I should have after recently re-reading Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau – I noted that one can claim acupuncture fees as a medical deduction. I reflected on the successful acupuncture sessions I completed with Dr. Liu at Sunshine Acupuncture in River […]
Sunrise
“There is a rumor of total welcome among the frosts of the winter morning.” So writes American poet Mary Oliver in her “Wordsworth’s Mountain” essay that appears in Upstream, Ms. Oliver’s 2016 collection of essays that reflect her willingness to lose herself in the beauties and mysteries of the natural world. I chanced to read […]
Observe with Passion
I’ve not read Mary Oliver’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poems American Primitive. Ms. Oliver is often compared to Emily Dickinson and her work frequently focuses on the natural world. In 2016, I read her collection of essays Upstream in which she reflects on her willingness to lose herself within the beauty and […]
Earth Rise
On Christmas Eve 1968, the crew of the Apollo 8 spacecraft took this picture – known as “Earth Rise” – while orbiting the moon. During the mission, the crew read the first 10 verses from the book of Genesis over a live television broadcast. When Commander Frank Borman signed off, he said: “We close with […]
Life Is Real… Life Is Grand
I think for many people the promise of heaven is so indescribably glorious that they tend to dismiss their time on earth as if it were the obligatory time one spends at a gate in an airline terminal waiting to board a flight to Jamaica. That’s too bad because this life we live on earth […]
The Christmas Story
I first shared this story from Ben-Hur in December 2011, the first Christmas season of our website. Most people — certainly those younger than 60 — may only know “Ben-Hur” as a chariot race that appeared in the 1959 Academy Award-winning film starring the late Charlton Heston. That film was telecast regularly during the holiday […]
Who Will Take Care of My Dog
I turned 69-years old last September and find myself asking more frequently, “What have I left to do in this throw-away society where relationships and friendships don’t count as much as they used to?” I am ready to check out. There is nothing left for me to do. I enjoy the sound of the river […]