Walking Each Other Home (or taking a cab)

Walking Each Other Home (or taking a cab)

Most of my travels these days are usually no more exotic than visiting family on Pea Ridge Road, outside of Eatonton, Georgia. I grew up on a dairy farm, neighbored on all sides by other dairy farms, with the inescapable scent of manure wafting through the air. This...
Savor the Ordinary and the Extraordinary

Savor the Ordinary and the Extraordinary

June 20 was my birthday. In the grand scheme of the universe, it was no big deal, and I am not just being modest. I turned 59. That is about as exciting as double-pleated khakis. No one gets excited about 59. There are no, “Ugh, oh, look who’s getting over the hill!”...
The Violent Othering

The Violent Othering

It is what I do when my lesser nature – my Ego, my fragile, undifferentiated Self – decides to take control. I “other” others. The recent violence in a LGBTQ nightclub, followed three days later with more violence in a Walmart, is happening to others, at least that is...
The Darkness of Advent

The Darkness of Advent

Annie is pit-boxer-something-or-another mix, and we have a date every evening that includes a walk in our neighborhood. As we often do on these evening strolls, we nosed into the woods along the edge of the neighborhood. I unclipped her leash so she could have more...
Hollow Places

Hollow Places

It started out, like all oak trees, as a simple acorn. Not all acorns become mighty trees, but this one did. It was celebrated – the acorn – in 1997 as symbolic of the birth of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology. The year before, McAfee opened its doors to...