Winter is coming
I dislike cold, icy, snowy winters. That is a big reason I was happy living in Mexico for many years. But now my wife and I are in Canada, and yesterday it snowed. It is... »
Personal Accounts
Hard knocks
Have you ever wondered why it is that from time to time you find yourself going through the school of hard knocks? Just when you’re thriving on some “ups” in your life, s... »
Three cups of tea
Right after graduating from high school, two friends and I decided to travel around the western Mediterranean. It was 1969, and the streets of Europe were filled with you... »
My heroes, warts and all
One thing that seems to be unique to the Bible is how the “heroes of faith”—with the exception of Jesus, of course—were far from perfect men and women. As the saying goes... »
Tribute to a butterfly
Andja was born in 1962 in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. When war broke out in the 1990s, Andja’s family fled as refugees to Vojnic, a small t... »
Rebuilding a life
My first encounter with Nadia was seven years ago, when a friend brought her to our home at 10 o’clock one night. Her skin was sallow; her eyes sunken and empty; her hair... »
A different kind of security
They’re not coming back! I remember how I felt when it finally hit home. Alone. Afraid. Unsure. For years I had been working on a social service project in an impoverishe... »
The lone goose
The lake next to my home is a quiet, contemplative setting that’s perfect for a pensive moment. One day when I’d been going through a particularly difficult time, I sat r... »
A deeper purpose
When I was growing up, I was a loner with acute social anxiety and never had a close friend. I wanted there to be someone with whom I would feel comfortable enough to sha... »
The tea lesson
One thing that I enjoyed about the years I spent in Japan is how adept the Japanese are at turning everyday activities into art forms. Such routine tasks as making tea, a... »