Ruminations
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On growth and change
Growth and change are equal partners in any pilgrimage, any journey toward wholeness – you can’t talk about one without also talking about the other. Not all change involves growth, of course; some involves regression, degradation, decomposition. People spiral down as well as up. But all growth involves change. Much of what makes change an… Continue reading
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When the world falls apart
“When the world falls apart, what can the good hope to do” (Ps. 11:3 ICEL)? The psalmist’s question has been with us for maybe 3,000 years or longer, and today it’s as relevant and penetrating as ever. I’m not sure the world is falling apart – we’ve survived hard times before – but the news… Continue reading
authentic relationship, commitment, community, covid-19, David Brooks, divisiveness, Emerson, environment, faith, family, finding God, good news, grief, hope, insurrection, let your life speak, Parker Palmer, philosophy, Rabbi Zusya, seeking God, terrorism, The Second Mountain, Thomas Merton, vocation -
Old canoes and old sermons
Some years ago, a fellow from the Adirondacks called Willem Lange, one of Vermont’s treasured storytellers, wanting to know if he had the time to restore an old canoe. Lange didn’t have the time, but since it was the kind of thing he could do in the evenings, and since he loved old canoes, he… Continue reading
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The ruckus of the birds
It’s the season for sleeping with open windows – even as the dog days begin – and waking to the sound not of an alarm clock but of birdsong. When I carried the burden of more outer commitments, I’d turn to the television for an early news and weather report. Had another act of terrorism… Continue reading
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A word about sauntering
Today I begin to saunter, or, more precisely, to record some random ruminations that are the product of my sauntering. The word “sauntering” I take from Thoreau, a word, full of the spirit of what my life seems to be. “I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life… Continue reading
The Sauntering Pilgrim 