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New Year’s Evolutions – Hope for 2019
What is it about the turning of the year that makes us want to reassess our lives? To pledge to do better or to, at least, not make the same mistakes we did last year? I've never been a fan of new year's resolutions, but I do like the idea of making plans. This year I...
Appalachian Thursday – Character Names
Yes, I know it's Friday. At least now I do. I'll blame it on the holidays throwing me off. All day yesterday I thought it was still Wednesday and so I neglected to get this post ready and up. But here it is, a day late and hopefully NOT a dollar short. Readers have...
Christmas Eve 50 Years Ago
Five decades ago on Christmas Eve astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders were the first men to orbit the moon. This flight--Apollo 8--is the one during which Anders snapped the famous "Earth rise" photo. But they did something else as well. They...
Christmas in Appalachia
While I suppose we were relatively modern when it came to my childhood Christmases, the old-timey traditions are still hanging on in the mountains. And there are some I very much think we should revive for broader use. Here are a few of my favorite Appalachian...
Preach it, John!
Yesterday our pastor talked about the third chapter of Matthew. You know, John the Baptist preparing the way for Christ. Basically, it's about John preaching repentance. And John must have been an effective preacher, because he inspired the crowd to ask what they...
Appalachian Thursday – Christmas Countdown
Guess what? It’s 12 days ’til Christmas! Yup, Christmas is less than two weeks away. Are you ready? Are you counting down with joy and anticipation? Or is there a little how-will-I-get-everything-done dread mixed in there? When I was little, we had a count-down to...
The Pleasure of Boring Days
Well, we didn't quite get the foot and a half of snow predicted, but I'd rather the weather forecasters overestimate than under. Still, it began snowing Saturday and there was a lovely layer of snow when we woke Sunday morning. The result was a delightfully quiet day...
Appalachian Thursday – Mountain Saints
Appalachia is about people as much as it is about place. We have a lovely Christmas tradition at my church. Our pastor gathers scripture for each day of Advent (December 2-24 this year) and assigns them to volunteers who then write a short entry for a devotional...
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