Swedish writer and photographer Staffan Widstrand comments, “Many people have experienced for themselves the value of simply walking in nature, how you return feeling refreshed, how your thinking is clearer and you are more balanced.” My personal direct encounters with nature throughout my life verify Mr. Widstrand’s observation. “In a hole in the ground there …
Category Archives: Spirit
The Joy of Adventure
There are those activities like fishing for trout that one can devote a morning, an afternoon, even a full day to and never capture as much as a glimpse of the bespeckled fish. That is of no consequence to the devote practitioner who gains as much – if not more – from the activity as …
Encounter the Miraculous
Early this morning, Clarence and I went mushrooming with our good friend Bonnie and her dog Bruno. A thin mist wetted the air and made the leaves greener than Ireland. Bonnie startled me when she called out, “Oh my goodness!” “Did you find a mushroom?” I replied. “No. A fawn!” I immediately put Clarence on …
Scarlet Tanager
Thanks to our good friends, Mrs. tVM, Clarence and I spend two hours each day in the fresh, open air surrounded by fields and forest. With the exception of an infrequent airliner passing overhead, there is no noise pollution and we are immersed in the uplifting calls from a wide variety of songbirds. The variety …
Life Changes
“I have passed the Rubicon of staying out. I have said to myself, that way is not homeward; I will wander further from what I have called my home – to the home which is forever inviting me. In such an hour the freedom of the woods is offered me, and the birds sing my …
Committed to Serving Others
University of South Florida (USF) soccer player Malani Lee gives us faith, hope and confidence in the future of the world community we exist in. Amid the tsunami of negative news that assaults us daily, young people like Malani stand up to be counted to let us know the world can be a better place.
Walking in Nature
Thanks to the generosity of our friends Pete and Bonnie, Mrs. tVM and I have been spending more and more hours each day surrounded by the serenity of the natural world. Pete and Bonnie live on a 35-acre hilltop not far from the St. Croix River, and they encourage us to bring Clarence up as …
Foot Washing
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 …
Where Have the Cowboys Gone?
I grew up in the ‘50s playing outside. There were a few rainy weekends, which gave us the excuse to attend the Saturday matinee. My morning poem perfectly captures the utopia of those halcyon days in the Berkshires…
There Are No Bad People
After committing over a half-million words to paper and publishing them and all their faults for the whole world to see, I am frequently reminded of the single, most important thing I have learned through the exercise of thousands of hours of reading, writing, and research. There are no bad people. Despite cries of evil …