Contemplative Viewfinder

          On Saturday our church, like many, hosted an Easter egg hunt.  I love this tradition, and how it crosses the boundaries between secular and sacred, serious and fun, mixing delight with devotion.  Some Christians through the ages haven’t particularly enjoyed those crossovers, but I think Jesus would’ve been okay with them.            After all, [... […]

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the [...]

          Our incredibly mild winter has forced all the spring flowers into blooming at least a couple of weeks early.  Additionally, some things that die in a normal winter here have survived.  Checking on my spring seedlings, I was delighted to find that most of the leeks I neglected to harvest in the fall were [...]

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.  [from Psalm 51]           The calendar says springtime, but summer has come early to the Bluegrass.  We’ve been enjoying record-setting temps in the [...]

          The last few days here in Kentucky have been all about the weather.           Friday afternoon, the state was hit by deadly tornadoes and violent hailstorms.            Just two nights later we received five inches of breathtakingly beautiful wet snow in what has been up to this point a nearly snowless winter.  Yesterday morning [...] […]

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and [...]

          A couple of weeks ago we attended our granddaughter’s high school band concert.  The band was well-rehearsed.  The music chosen was a nice combination of styles and the young people performed extremely well.  As music lovers, we were impressed.           Normally, I would spend about 90% of my visual energy watching my granddaughter, but [...] […]

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with [...]

          How are you feeling about presidential election year politics?  A little queasy?  Well, pull out your Dramamine because we still have more than nine months to go.  Some have stronger stomachs than others for angry speech and negative ads.           This squeamish condition you may be experiencing, called “political food poisoning” (not really; I [. […]

          One of our cars is equipped with Bluetooth technology.  When we purchased the car, I’d already been using a Bluetooth earpiece for years, but I expected the new hands-free-just-push-a-button-on-the-steering-wheel device would be even safer, so I sat in the parking lot to learn how to use it.  That was a good thing, because it [...]