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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

January 2018

January 23, 2018

The Love Song of Pepper Smith

The day of Pepper Smith’s funeral, it was a stiff fifteen degrees—ironic weather for a...

September 2017

September 07, 2017

Still on the Line

I will not claim credit for many things, but one virtue I own is that...

September 06, 2017

The Tattoo Monologues

Getting a tattoo is not only about deciding what to etch onto one’s body forever,...

August 2017

August 29, 2017

An All Too Ghostly Ghost Story: Part 2

Continued from yesterday. Four years ago, my wife and I moved into our red brick...

August 23, 2017

The Sweetness These Days

On the phone, he says, Your mother throws me over her shoulder and carries...

August 04, 2017

Poetry Friday: “My Life as an Open-Air Temple”

In Dolin’s poem we wake up abruptly inside the walls of an ancient temple. Walls...

July 2017

July 31, 2017

Who Is This Aliveness I Am?

I am alive. I am alive. I am alive. Who is this aliveness I...

July 28, 2017

Poetry Friday: “Graveyard Prayer”

In this poem, Robert Cording places himself in an unusual spot: “at the graveyard where...

June 2017

June 15, 2017

A Prayer for Kendrick Lamar

It occurs to me each time I listen to Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Damn: The award winning...

June 07, 2017

Cutting Down the Butterfly Garden

When we bought our new house, a jungle of weeds marked the front yard. I...

June 06, 2017

Movements of the Lord

As I was saying my rosary this morning on my walk, it occurred to me...

June 05, 2017

On the 50th Anniversary of the Six-Day War

What I didn’t know in June of 1967 was that this month and year for...

April 2017

April 20, 2017

The Eye Behind the Camera: Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson

When we first see the close-up of the dead bird on the ground, we wonder...

April 18, 2017

Finding My Sister in Young Adult Novels

Lately all I want to read are young adult novels about sisters. Young adult (YA)...

April 13, 2017

Palm Fronds

My daughter held the palm frond as if she’d never seen such a thing. I...

April 12, 2017

God is a Wild Old Dog

God is a wild old dog / Someone left out on the highway —Patty Griffin...

March 2017

March 17, 2017

Poetry Friday: “In Tandem”

Here is a poem that takes aim at our clichés about aging and death. It...

February 2017

February 24, 2017

Poetry Friday: “The Cartographer of Disaster”

Sometimes a poet will take a familiar story but re-tell it from the point of...

February 13, 2017

Visiting Martin Luther in Minneapolis

A few weeks ago, I visited the Martin Luther: Art and the Reformation exhibit at...

January 2017

January 25, 2017

To Run and Not Grow Weary, Part 1

By Jeffrey Overstreet. So, why Chariots of Fire? Why is that what I chose for...

January 24, 2017

Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea

It’s impossible to speak of Kenneth Lonergan’s film Manchester by the Sea without alluding to...

January 23, 2017

The World at Midday

I spent Christmas Eve with my mom last month for the first time in years....

January 10, 2017

Meeting Islam in Interfaith Friendships

In 1993 my husband George Dardess began visiting our local Islamic Center: first to learn...

December 2016

December 16, 2016

Poetry Friday: “A Christmas Story”

In “A Christmas Story,” Robert Cording evokes Aleksander Wat (1900-1967), a Polish poet that converted...

December 05, 2016

The Nightingale Floors

In Kyoto, Japan, seventeenth-century Nijo Castle contains an architectural feature meant to protect the ruling...

August 2016

August 16, 2016

The Neglected Garden, Part II

Continued from yesterday. The dollhouse my father was building for me was still unfinished when...

August 09, 2016

Fit for Immortality?

“How’s your health?” my long-time friend asked me with concern. “The leukemia is creeping toward...

May 2016

May 31, 2016

Richard Wilbur’s Poetry Captures Our Days

Last night I read a poem that showed me in a flash why I save...

May 11, 2016

My Prayer Is Not Prayer

My prayer is not prayer, not exactly. It includes words. It may even begin with...

April 2016

April 05, 2016

A Dancing Christ

On Holy Saturday, I woke up at my sister's house in northern Minnesota with a...