Remember those awkward collisions of somewhat sacred words when worshippers from different backgrounds tried to blend their versions of Jesus’ prayer: “forgive us our *#*%@ as we forgive those who #*%&@* against us…” At least, that’s what it sounded like as “debts and debtors” took on “trespasses and those who trespass against us…” This war of the words can easily distract us from the substance of the utterances. Somewhat like that preacher who began the sermon with these words: “While we are here for an hour to worship, 240 children will die of starvation, and we won’t give a damn.” […]
You Must Remember This…
…a kiss is just a kiss, on that you can rely…” Those lovely lyrics from the the classic song “As Time Goes By” have been a haunting reminder of something that’s missing in our lives during these pandemic days. I’m good and ready to take off this kiss-proof mask and spin the bottle toward the good old days of simple affections. A kiss is a rich symbol of more than puckered lips applied to other lips or cheeks, but when will we ever get to kiss even the poet’s “joy as it flies”? Or to paraphrase the Psalmist: “How long, […]
Asymptomatic
Within this past year of aging as gracefully as I know how, I found out that I had a medical condition unknown to me altogether because it was asymptomatic. I happened to be at a walk-in clinic to check out my ear when they discovered that my heart was broken. I felt as cool as a center seed in a cucumber while my heart was going ninety to nothing. I had no other indicators of my cautious cardiac condition, which was later called atrial fibrillation, or “a-fib” for short. Through the miracle of medication and a procedure called cardio-version, my […]
Days and Nights of Our Lives
“Like sands through the hourglass, so these are the days of our lives.” Those iconic words have introduced a soap opera for what seems like eons, but it’s only been around for 55 years, which happens to be long enough in hourglass hours and days of so many lives that mattered enough to maintain their ratings. Let me invite us all to turn off the television, unplug it, and step outdoors under the canopy of late summer stars and their sister planets. Here we might use our rusty imaginations to think about the days and nights of our own lives. […]