Basically the same but superficially different, these colorful lawn chairs are reminders of both the similarities and the uniqueness of the people who occupy them from time to time. Brown, yellow, black or white, we categorize ourselves by physical characteristics, personal quirkiness, ancestry, social standing , abilities, intellect and other individual differences. However, whether livingContinue reading “A Paradox: Different but the Same!”
Tag Archives: Devotional
How Many “Glad” Days are there in a Year?
“Glads” make us glad! Flowers, apart from being gifts of appreciation, tokens of love, and friendly gestures, have a beauty which can and may buoy us up. In one of his “Peanuts” cartoons, Charles Shultz has Charlie Brown hugging Snoopy and questioning, “What if today, we were just grateful for everything? Such an attitude ofContinue reading “How Many “Glad” Days are there in a Year?”
Of Kings and Aunts and Country Singers…
Old and weathered, Maine houses hide their stories but are reminders of ours. When young, optimistic, enthusiastic and busy, we take little notice of the imperceptibly slow but progressive changes occurring in our bodies. Regardless of physical conditioning, body habitus, or huge amounts of denial, they creep up and surprise us. We wrinkle, sag, shuffle,Continue reading “Of Kings and Aunts and Country Singers…”
“Missed Things” That Shift the Narrative…
While reveling in the beauty of this tiny, mist surrounded island and its reflection in the bay, the distant, tiny image of an eagle scanning the water for its lunch had been missed. However, that significant detail changed the photo’s narrative into something rawer and less ethereal. Somewhat similarly, our stressed and harried routines areContinue reading ““Missed Things” That Shift the Narrative…”
Blowing in the Wind…
In a series of frustrated, rhetorical queries, Bob Dylan’s 1960’s “protest “song, “Blowing in the Wind,” identifies both personal and national moral conundrums. He poses stirring questions about how many roads or years we must take or live before we comprehend our common humanity. He laments our inability to listen to and to show compassionContinue reading “Blowing in the Wind…”
Are Raindrops Falling on Your Head?
There is an old saying that “when it rains, it pours.” That has happened to us in Maine this fall. We all enjoy a warm, gentle, refreshing rain shower but not those torrential downpours which relentlessly toss about their windy havoc, flood our cellars, and leave us powerless. Sometimes, life is like that. Behind oneContinue reading “Are Raindrops Falling on Your Head?”
The Potter
Kneading and shaping and reshaping the clay on his potter’s wheel, the potter transforms earth into something distinct and unique, useful, beautiful, and desirable. In a small way, His creative acts mirror God’s. The prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah make that analogy. God, who not only gave beauty to creation and made us from the dustContinue reading “The Potter”
Some Thoughts and A Question…
We enjoy observing and analyzing the animal “kingdom.” Their world intrigues us. We are both amused by critter antics and appalled by the brute “law of the jungle”. Yet, we have an intuitive sense that we fit somewhere in this picture. Some would say that humans are part of a created order; others sayContinue reading “Some Thoughts and A Question…”
A New Day…
As the rising sun drives darkness to the other side of the earth, a breathtaking, sky beautifully announces another day to continue our story and to possibly change its narrative. Imagine how spectacular the dawning of creation must have been! God was impressed enough to begin His story with humanity …God said, “Let there be light,”Continue reading “A New Day…”
The Way Ahead…
Looking across this room through the imperfections of an old, outside window pane to the magnificent Frenchman’s Bay and Cadillac Mountain, we are given a visual parable of how difficult it is to see the road ahead when viewed through the tears and confusion of a tough journey. Beyond the pane lie the beautiful skiesContinue reading “The Way Ahead…”