The Catch, the Joy of Lobstering, Sullivan, Maine We were created as sensual beings with the capability and expectation that we should know the pleasures of our world. Experiencing pleasure comes in varied ways and forms: tastes, colors, styles, textures, books, art, recreation, music, ideas, and relationships. We have preferences but also enjoy others’ achievementsContinue reading “Pleasures Now and Forever?”
Tag Archives: Gospel
Is it Wash Day?
Whether by some personal, habitual imperative or by an impulse, it is wash day! Despite the fog, the laundry is clean and hanging out in fresh, soggy, salty air. Maybe optimism or urgency will force the sun to shine? But sun or no sun, the wash is done! Clothing is a familiar biblical metaphor becauseContinue reading “Is it Wash Day?”
Behold!
Maybe it’s a butterfly on a tangerine cone flower or an expansive, breathtaking vista. It might be minuscule and cellular or cosmic and grand; simple and stark or intricate and complex; lovely and serene or loud and boisterous; man made or God created. It might be a song, a symphony, a discovery, or an idea.Continue reading “Behold!”
Life: A Butterfly Journey
Butterflies are beautiful creatures, but their midair flutterings and apparent irregular, undirected courses beg the question of why they don’t just make a bee line to their destination? (Probably because they are not bees!) However, their erratic flying makes it difficult for predators to pick them out of the air! Their flight pattern is metaphoricalContinue reading “Life: A Butterfly Journey”
A Vacancy?
A fresh, early summer morning; fog lingering down the bay; smells from the sea; beauty all around! Beautiful but empty! We know how to present cheerful facades when actually feeling empty. We hope nobody will detect our loneliness. “Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. (Proverbs 14:13) LikeContinue reading “A Vacancy?”
Sense or Senseless?
“Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea.” (Ecclesiastes 1) That statement is a fragmented thought from King Solomon’s larger assessment of life’s meaningless monotony. Despite power and wealth, both Solomon and his father, King David, expressedContinue reading “Sense or Senseless?”
Love at Work
Country churches with their white spires poking into the sky stir up some wistful childhood memories of growing up in a small Maine town. Their edifices are historical icons. For the most part they are reminders of the long history of Christianity in New England and the central role it has played in the socialContinue reading “Love at Work”
Calm Winds, Easy Seas, and Full Sails
Calm winds, easy seas, and full sails bring to mind the Message’s paraphrase of Psalm 84:12! All sunshine and sovereign is God, generous in gifts and glory.He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions. It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies. (MSG) To those who have been through deep waters of hurt and suffering orContinue reading “Calm Winds, Easy Seas, and Full Sails”
More Precious than Gold?
In 1923 Robert Frost wrote the short poem “Nothing Gold can Stay”. Nature’s first green is gold,Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower;But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf.So Eden sank to grief,So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay. The poem beautifully but sadly states the ancient lament thatContinue reading “More Precious than Gold?”
A Question of Legacy
In a recent article titled “Your Legacy”, Richard Simmons III asked the question , “What do you want to be remembered for?” He said that “Once your earthly life is over, your reputation will become your legacy.” Then he quoted from author David Brooks book The Road to Character in which the author differentiates betweenContinue reading “A Question of Legacy”
Sweet Words from Maine 