“Hi, how are you?” I greeted the stranger as I strolled along the walkway. He acknowledged me with only a faint smile. Oops, I had momentarily lapsed into conversing and was reminded that, “Silence is spoken here.” It had been years since I’d spent more than a few hours at a time in visits to …
“Interested in a little side-trip?” I asked. We were cruising along I-44, from Oklahoma City, headed southwest, making good time, on the way to my hometown, Altus, Oklahoma. My mom had died two days before. “We may never pass this way again,” I added, as an incentive to take the detour. “Just keep following me,” …
The two missed calls and voicemail from my brother, Mark, caught my attention. His voice message said: “Call me back as soon as you can.” Of the three sons, Mark lived closest to Mom, and he and his wife, Joy, had made frequent trips to Lubbock, Texas, to check on and care for Mom. “This …
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. If all has gone as I have planned, I will have arrived at the Abby of Gethsemani, 22 miles from my home, by 5:45 this morning, to pray and meditate, and receive ashes. The monks there at the Abby are of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict …