Cutting Our Losses
If your hand makes you sin, cut it off! Better that you should be maimed but obtain eternal life, rather than keep both hands and go to hell [Gei-Hinnom], to unquenchable fire!* As someone who doesn’t believe in hell, or in the kind of God who would send people there, what do I do with […]
Not Afraid to Ask
“We went to the junkyard,” Marguerite said, “and Monty was full of questions.” At seven, Monty has not yet learned to keep his questions quiet so as not to bother the adults. His wise old aunt takes him on some kind of adventure each week to give his house-bound parents and introverted older brother some […]
The Soul’s Name
Names do so much more than identify and differentiate. They provide a canvas on which to paint, exploring the what of each person, place, or thing. Richly expressive within their own borders, yet they have limits. Can a name contain more than the sum of its parts? I know what my legal forms of identification […]
Detachment
Suddenly my summer garden has become lush and over-abundant. Nine-foot-high butterfly bushes bending with the weight of their purple blossoms, the late blooming hostas, towering jasmine vines, black-eyed Susans brightly appearing in new places, knockout roses in full bloom and still budding, and a veritable jungle of ferns. I go outside early for quiet time […]