Featured image caption: Women at Prairie Street Mennonite Church stitched a quilt for the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale, 9/24. They named it Magenta Kaleidoscope Wonder. It's a wonderful gift for the relief, development and peacebuilding work of MCC. It sold to a member of our church for $400. The Prairie Street children's My Coins Count offerings …
You don't say #2, 19 September 2016--From medieval mystic Meister Eckhart: "If the only prayer you ever said was 'Thank you,' you would have said all the prayers." I can hardly fit in all the "Thank you" prayers of the week. I'll try. Thank you for houseguest Marcia Parker and visits with "old" friends Marcia currently lives …
You don't say #1, Saturday 10 September 2016--With my blog series theme, "You don't say," I'm using neither an exclamation mark nor a period. The "!" usage denotes amazement or disbelief. The " ." usage denotes an ordinary, "that's right," response. Let the reader decide. I'm aiming to err on the side of toned-down, conversational speech. We've got more …
Summer Stage #15, Saturday 3 September 2016--I like the sign at our dentist's office: "Four out of five dentists recommend hockey." Happily, for me hockey came and went without any major mishaps. It was never serious league stuff, mostly games at school. I shake my head at the time in the days before face masks, I played goalie …
Continue reading Now that September’s here, can hockey be far behind?
Summer Stage #14, Saturday 27 August 2016--An old bookmark from the Elkhart Public Library has the title, COURTESY CAN PAY ... TWICE! By returning books promptly, it says, the borrower will benefit those waiting in line and also one's pocketbook, given a 10 cent fine per day for each book overdue, adding, "$12.60 could be charged …
Summer Stage #13, Saturday 20 August 2016--What's new? Ask that question of the last 100 years and you could say: discovery of insulin (1922), television (1925), use of penicillin to treat infections (1942), desktop size personal computers (1974), and Pokémon (2016). Ask the question of last week and you get: unusual weather patterns with severe …
Summer stage #12, Saturday, 13 August 2016--I was about to shred an old notebook, part of my quest to dramatically reduce , , , let's call it . . . my paper stash. The notebook dates to 1973, from the first convention I attended of the Religious Public Relations Council, held in Indianapolis, Indiana. My cryptic notes (with the photo) put me …
Summer stage #11, Sunday 7 August 2016--How does one pray for those who wobble and fall? Those who teach others with kindness, firm guidance, and love? For peace? Those suffering the scourge of war and calamities of nature? Women and children who suffer domestic violence and homelessness? Those who are ill, their families and caregivers? Those …
Summer Stage #10, Friday 29 July 2016--We're into blueberry season. In the next weeks we'll take a day trip to South Haven, Michigan, to buy a couple more boxes--and enjoy a walk along Lake Michigan. One question I'll ask at the woman at the farm: "Does God still wash the blueberries?" I know she'll answer, "Yes." She always does. "Pop the lot …
Continue reading Surrounded by a season of bounty where God washes the blueberries
Summer Stage #9, Saturday 23 July 2016--That's Cyrano de Bergerac, the literary character, talking about his nose. Cyrano de Bergerac, the playwright, also had his literary character talk about an imaginative way he got to the moon. In July1969, I studied a play based on de Bergerac's writing. I was wrapping up studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, taking two drama courses. …
It's About Now 