Featured image: A dramatic sky slowly passes over a field in LaGrange County last Saturday. Cogitation 2/180 Saturday 12 January 2019 "Make haste slowly," said Suetonius of old. Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, born AD 69, died after 122, was a Roman biographer and antiquarian, a member of the equestrian or knightly class. If Suetonius were …
‘Ring out, wild bells,’ as the New Year dawns
Featured image: Fresh snow on Cowles Bog. Cogitation 1/179 Friday 4 January 2019 This is blog #179 since I started publishing Cogitations. One by one I've posted a first draft of part of my week, shared a thought or two on the present with some reference to the past, and aimed for a word of hope for …
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Are we there yet?
Featured image: St Ives chocolate from friends in Lelant, Cornwall, UK. Here, at St Uny Church, St Michael's Way crosses to St Michael's Mount in the English Channel, part of the route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Cogitation 52 Saturday 29 December 2019 My vivid memory of the "there" question is that of taking …
On the second day of winter . . .
Featured image: I'm intrigued by solitary trees still at home in fields cleared of fences. It's a reminder to go and hug a tree. Cogitation 51 Saturday 22 December 2018 . . . I pause to reflect on the week as this year's moments, and gloom, melt away. We've been at home at Greencroft Goshen …
The patient impatience of Advent
Featured image: Cello ornament on one of the Christmas trees at Greencroft Goshen. Cogitation 50 Saturday 15 December 2018 In the music of Advent I hear and see hope. For Christians, Advent sets the stage for Christmas. The music of Advent gives voice to the longing for light to penetrate darkness. In recent Sundays we sang, …
Tree’s up
Featured image: One of the angelic host of ornaments that adorn our Christmas tree. Cogitation 49 Saturday 8 December 2018 Last week we moved house after more than 40 years of shaping, and being shaped by house and home in one place. The move itself went well--decent weather, in contrast to the blizzard on …
Our page-turning week
Featured image: The movers took the heavy things, friends shouldered much, too. Thanks to all! Cogitation 48 Sunday 2 December 2018 I messed up my numbering system on 29 September. Oh my. I know there are 52 weeks in the year and I was pretty sure I posted a blog every week so far. …
You can’t be in a hurry
Cogitation 37 Saturday 24 November 2018 When you take backroads to a destination you can't be in a hurry. Likewise, when you stop to name your gratitudes you can't be in a hurry. As we were travelling backroads earlier this week to visit family and friends in Canada, I jotted a list of some …
Thanks, and ever thanks
Featured image: Sandhill Cranes gleaning in a cornfield in LaGrange County on Friday. Cogitation 36 Saturday 17 November 2018 I give thanks for a bit of snow on the deck, a gray sky, a bold-brew cup of coffee, sturdy walking boots, tomorrow when Marty is worship leader, anticipation of the Bender family gathering coming …
The ancient Celtic Christians faced a messy world, too
Featured image: The beauty of turned leaves early in the week, bare branches days later. Cogitation 35 Saturday 10 November 2018 I think about church, the church I attend, the faith community my church affiliates with--that's Mennonite Church USA--the church universal, and other faith groups, I'm unhappy with aspects of what is referred to …
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It's About Now 