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Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

October 2018

October 17, 2018

Waiting for Nothing to Happen

When I was in my twenties, toward the end of a not-especially-dissolute but nonetheless untethered...

October 15, 2018

Morning in a Forgotten Neighborhood

The other day it was raining. The clouds were impossibly low, skimming the tops of...

October 10, 2018

Humans Love Heroes

In the video James Corden approaches a podium wearing a dark grey suit and a...

October 08, 2018

On Writing Odes: Taking Time to Celebrate

Amidst the constant stream of bad news these days, we would do well to make...

October 03, 2018

The Lost Goodbye

You've been gone for only hours In a casket made of wood When no one...

September 2018

September 28, 2018

Poetry Friday: “Bird on Knee”

Like Emily Dickinson, Bray describes hope as thing with feathers, “an eastern phoebe.” Turning on...

September 27, 2018

Writing Rules for Life

For my forty-first birthday, I decided to write a personal rule of life. Turning forty...

September 26, 2018

The Stars of the Earth Cry Out

Last night, as I walked on the road that leads me home, I saw a...

September 25, 2018

Remembering Sassy

Sassy wasn’t her real name, and she wasn’t “sassy” at all. But as happens with...

September 24, 2018

Swallowing My Pride

I lost it at the dentist's office the other day. I was there with my...

September 21, 2018

Poetry Friday: “The Ordinary Time”

According to the Church’s liturgical calendar, this is the twenty-fourth week of Ordinary Time, the...

September 20, 2018

Beginner Ballet

I hobbled into beginner ballet at age thirty-six, late for my first class, whirring between...

September 19, 2018

Leonard Cohen’s Holy and Broken Hallelujah

My first “Hallelujah” was sung by Rufus Wainwright in Shrek. I was a preteen and...

September 18, 2018

Ready or Not for the Days of Awe

By now, I could have read Psalm 27 at least twenty-seven times, once a day...

September 17, 2018

Tune in to Great TV Tonight

The Emmys air tonight, and here at “Good Letters” we’re gratified that our bloggers have...

September 14, 2018

Poetry Friday: “Field”

Spoiler alert: here is a poem that purports to describe a vision of heaven but...

September 13, 2018

Emmy Watch: The Americans

The Americans, FX’s drama about Russian spies living in Washington, D.C., ended its six-season run...

September 12, 2018

Emmy Watch: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

My annual family Christmas letter swelled from a single paragraph into a sixteen-page spread before...

September 11, 2018

Emmy Watch: Stranger Things

In July 2016, I watched season one of Stranger Things with my younger brother. I...

September 10, 2018

Emmy Watch: This Is Us

This Is Us. This is Adoption. Open adoption, in which a child’s birth family and...

September 06, 2018

The Disastrous Wizard of Oz

My teenage granddaughter Phoebe was visiting us from out of town. On these visits, we...

September 05, 2018

Tahlequah’s Grief

On July 24, an orca calf died off the coast of British Columbia within thirty...

September 04, 2018

At the Table

1. The temptation is there. Every time my daughter rubs her elbow against it, the...

September 03, 2018

My Grandfather’s Garden

My grandfather’s death came surprisingly quickly, and I witnessed his rapid decline over the three...

August 2018

August 31, 2018

Poetry Friday:
Your Face Has Always Been Peppered With Moles

Charleston’s poem is a piece of contrasts: youth and age, sugar and spice, consumption and...

August 30, 2018

Cathedrals of Consumption

Many years ago now, not long after I had been received into the Orthodox Church,...

August 29, 2018

Caves of Wonder

To reach the mouth of Mammoth Cave’s historic entrance, we made a short descent into...

August 28, 2018

Athlete: That’s Me!

When I bought the shirt, I didn’t think much of it. It was for workouts,...

August 27, 2018

Jesus in Disguise

My memory of last summer is filled with Jesus. Jesus in many guises behind the...

August 24, 2018

Poetry Friday: A Quick Interpretation of the Sixth Seal

End times? Friends in the evangelical world talk seriously about the Rapture. Our world is...