Almost everyone has had the desire to strike off into the wilderness. But we’re a conflicted bunch, aren’t we? We want the thrill of the venture with a safe path back to the campsite. Unfortunately, the way back is not always clear. We’re like the hopelessly lost hiker, “Let’s see, is that pine cone the …
When it comes morning greetings, I can identify with something the late Christopher Hichens said: “How ya doin’?’ I always think, What kind of a question is that?, and I always reply, ‘A bit early to tell.” I asked my wife that question one morning recently, “Just getting awake,” she answered, and I immediately wondered …
Herodotus mentioned it in ancient Greece as early as the 5th century, B.C.E; Ponce de Leon went looking for it in Florida in 1513; and in the twentieth century, Este Lauder made a fortune from devotes desiring it. Still, no one has discovered the Fountain of Youth. As hard as we may reach for it, …
We want to know that in the end, there is something beyond the end. We desire some assurance that when that Abyss finally creeps to our doorstep, we will somehow be able to step over it into the beyond, into an Everlasting that’s kind and good to us. A dear lady in my church spoke …
Engaging in elaborate schemes to hide secrets can quickly evolve into a full-time occupation. Cover-ups can be exhausting. Some are on a grand scale, secrets that, when exposed, affect thousands, as in the Watergate variety, (“Watergate had become the center of the media’s universe,” pined Richard Nixon, when it was all over.) Or, hidden maneuvers …