Select Page

Prayers from the River and Waterfall

In her memoir, The Long Loneliness, Dorothy Day said: “Joy and sorrow, life and death, always so close together!”  My experience mirrors hers. I remember the first time Amanda performed in a little preschool choir—how happy I was to watch her stand with her...

The River Says

I got to the river today.  I didn’t, as I often enjoy doing, head to Madison County and hike the mountain trails which ring the French Broad near Hot Springs.  Instead, I parked my Subaru at the old “transfer station” and ambled along the path to the “Race...

Random Thoughts About Love

Love is not so much the opposite of hate or indifference as it is the opposite of fear.  It is fear which gives rise to hate, indifference, and insensitivity, and also to isolation, loneliness, and uncertainty.  “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18)....

Making a Home in Exile

Here’s a paradox about human nature: we look for home in a world where we never feel fully and restfully at home.  That paradox explains why even the most settled and contented people have moments when they wonder if they will ever arrive where they most want to...

Benediction of Powerlessness

Imagine how you would feel if, at the end of worship, the minister asked you to receive a benediction which began like this:             May all your expectations be frustrated....