My guess is that when you go to a fast food restaurant, you look for a clean or mostly clean table at which to eat. I avoid tables that are piled with stuff from a previous customer that wasn’t considerate…
Marching to a different drummer
The poinsettias are ablaze with holiday red. The Advent wreath is in place and we are on our countdown toward lighting the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve. Among the poinsettias, the wreaths, and the candles, there are numerous Christmas trees…
Raising a lament
By Bill Leonard “Summon the wailing women to come. Send for the women skilled in keening to come quickly and raise a lament for us, that our eyes my run with tears and our eyelids be wet with weeping…. Teach…
Music fills the air
Music is the universal language. Music is prevalent during this festive time of year. Music is imperative for a soul to really “sing.” Music is very much a part of my family. Melodies and harmonies abound around a family who…
What’s Cyrus have to do with Advent?
As the semester comes to a close for me, I am able to do a bit of reflecting on the work I’ve done and what I’ve read. One line from Xenophon’s Cyropaedia in particular stood out to me: For I…
Talking points and tragedy
By Amy Butler There are moments when words fail us, even those of us who wrestle words to a page for a living. Last week was one of those times. What words can possibly console the parents of 20 little…
Life, love and Elmer’s glue
I’ll confess, I didn’t hear the Christmas tree come crashing down in the middle of the night. I vaguely remember my husband asking me if I heard dishes shattering. Just another bizarre dream, I thought. No thief in the night…
The original Christmas village
“O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.” This past summer Amanda and I did a lot of walking while we were in the United Kingdom…
Time to act on gun control
By David Burroughs “It is too soon to talk about the politics of gun control. That would be insensitive to those killed.” I keep hearing this argument. I want to be very sensitive to the people of Newtown, Conn., who…