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Sweeping clean
It’s time for another purge, I wrote in July, referring to the prospect of ridding myself of writings that have accumulated since my last major purge several years ago, “to clear myself of how I once saw things, hoping to see the brand-new landscape of my existence.” Two months later, I’ve done it: blog entries,… 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 -
The call of the cicadas
Waiting, I noticed the midsummer sound of cicadas, their dry rasp foretelling summer’s finale and autumn’s approach, and soon after that, winter. Some find it a sad sound, herald of the season’s ending. I find it mellow comfort: an invitation to rest; to return to the earth, my source; to reground in what is more… Continue reading
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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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Meanwhile Orion
Today I stepped out of the house to retrieve the morning newspaper and got a dose of eternity in the bargain. In the eastern sky, the moon was well into its last quarter, with bright Venus riding close by, while to the south Orion kept vigil. In my hands was more news of life’s messy… Continue reading
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The spiders remain
Sheryl and I have made a pilgrimage to Chautauqua Institution almost every summer since we’ve been married, staying a week or two on the grounds to soak in the arts and thoughts and imagination of the place and its people. We talk of going elsewhere some summer, but when the time comes to make reservations… 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 