Cogitation 24 Friday 12 June 2020 Featured image: The Greencroft Goshen campus offers fine options for meditative strolls, taking physical distancing in stride. "Walking's old hat, blogging's not," I wrote in my first blog, 30 November 2014, adding, "Marty and I have been walking for exercise and pleasure for more than two decades. I'll be …
Author: John Bender
Hi, my name is John Bender, retired and loving it. I'm writing to help interested people cross bridges to and from the past. Stories from the past can shed light on life in the present and illuminate the future. We've got a lot of living to do. Let's do it!
It’s my/our problem
Cogitation 23 Friday 5 June 2020 Violence doesn't have problems. Viruses don't have problems. Mother Nature doesn't have problems. It's my/our problem. It's about how human beings address problems. In matters of human relations, illness, natural disasters, we can either do the right thing--for me that's according to the dictates of Scripture, along with reasoned …
Zoom, zoom, zoom
Cogitation 22 Friday 29 May 2020 Zoom: A sharp upward movement, like an airplane taking off. Or a kite zipping high into the sky. Or a loud low hum or buzz. Or zeroing in on a subject with a camera, binoculars or microscope zoom lens. Or a catchy song for kindergarten children called, Zoom Zoom …
Reverence for creation
Cogitation 21 Friday 22 May 2020 This week I look to others for words of hope amidst the helpful and unhelpful responses to Covid-19. I glean words that calm and reassure me of God's voice within and beyond the global coronavirus storm. Such as this prayer from an unnamed writer: "Lord, for tomorrow and its …
Mask-to-mask
Cogitation 20 Friday 15 May 2020 Reasons to wear a mask in public during the coronavirus pandemic, include: to show solidarity with frontline workers, to protect others if you are infected but have not yet developed symptoms, to protect yourself to some degree, to honor those heroes who have died in the line of duty, …
Consider the dandelion
Cogitation 19 Friday 8 May 2020 Dandelions are considered a stubborn weed, a scourge to people who want weedless lawns. Out come the weed killers, the get-them-by-the-roots tools, the lawnmower, the heated words. Still, others welcome dandelions as food, a nutritional treat either cooked or raw. I was happy to recall eating such a salad …
Exuberance in a time that calls for prudence
Cogitation 18 Friday 1 May 2020 Dancing around the Maypole today, regrettably, must give way to prudence. Having dancers intertwine ribbons around the pole just would not do in the scramble to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Maybe the Mayday tradition of making cone-shaped May baskets out of colored paper, putting flowers in them and leaving …
Continue reading Exuberance in a time that calls for prudence
Moments of joy
Cogitation 17 Friday 24 April 2020 Thomas a Kempis had a fitting word for me this week: "Never to be completely idle, but either reading, or writing, or praying, or meditating, or working at something useful for all in common." This Christian monk was born in Kempen, Germany in 1380 and died in Zwolle, The …
GoBAKEnCOOK
Cogitation 16 Friday 17 April 2020 Many kitchens are getting a workout during this time when life centers on staying at home, working from home, only going out for essential travel or getting groceries and medications, and safe-distance exercising--all for our own health and the health of others as we join virtual hands around the …
Traveling mercies
Cogitation 15 Friday 10 April 2020 Guardian angels working overtime, thoughts and prayers of family and friends, the second-mile efforts of transport people on the ground and in the air, a paper clip, and Dvorak's Symphony No 9 got us home to the USA from the United Kingdom on Sunday and Monday, 5 and 6 …
It's About Now 