FOR THE JOURNEY I grew up near a small town that had a big Labor Day weekend celebration. For a farm kid, it rivaled Christmas for excitement. There were carnival rides, barkers hawking games, a big parade, an alumni dance at the local ballroom, contests of all kinds. The streets were closed to traffic, and […]

FOR THE JOURNEY Over 60 years ago, a young African American boy named Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi after an encounter with a white woman in a country store on a dusty road on a hot, humid Southern day. Till, from Chicago, was visiting relatives and had stopped to buy bubble gum. Emmett […]

FOR THE JOURNEY My elderly aunt was a walker. After she retired, she would hoof it around our small town to visit friends or rise early to walk downtown to the coffee shop for breakfast. Sadly, her body stayed in much better shape than her mind, and when dementia overcame her, she was placed in […]

FOR THE JOURNEY So, you want to save the world? Yeah, so do I. At least, most of us want to do good, some giving that will make a dent in the world’s woes, something from which we can see positive results. And sometimes in my daydreams I envision a rather large dent. I know […]

FOR THE JOURNEY Near the end of “Thirst,” one of my favorite volumes of Mary Oliver’s poetry, she speaks to the Lord in the epilogue: “Love for the earth and love for you are having such a long conversation in my heart.” When Oliver died in January 2019, I felt a great loss, as if […]

  FOR THE JOURNEY Lent beckons, and that’s a good time to dust off my gratitude journal. If you want a run-down on all the ways gratitude can help you, visit happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude. Over 26 studies have chronicled how gratitude can help you sleep better, experience less physical pain, spend more time exercising, improve your mood […]

FOR THE JOURNEY When the ground shifts beneath your feet, you fall back on faith. Sometimes, it’s a small earthquake that jolts you from deep slumber. Your spouse may not even stir unless it’s a really good slammer. Other times, you’re hauling the laundry up the stairs and it rolls in slowly. Or a desk […]

FOR THE JOURNEY Many years ago, my spiritual director was a no-nonsense nun. When I arrived for my companioning session with her, I would notice the little sign on her desk, “Just Do It.” That phrase is, of course, a trademark of the shoe company Nike. But on her desk, it spoke, not to Sister […]