Happy New Year! On New Year’s Eve, I listened to a couple of different video events marking the occasion. The first included a reflection from Union Seminary President Serene Jones. She spoke in part about the many months of social upheaval across America, and the...
The year 2020 is almost over. I can imagine everyone around the world heaving a deep sigh of relief. It’s been a tumultuous year on so many levels. As it draws to a close, I’m reflecting on my own life in this year and drawing out a few themes that have been woven...
The harvest season is here. The majority of humans now live in cities (55% in 2018), so we tend to be more out of touch with the seasonal rhythms of planting and harvesting (unless, like me, you have a garden!). We might put pumpkins on our porches, but few of us grow...
One week ago, on my morning walk, I discovered that this huge old cottonwood tree had been cut down. It stood out in a field, on the edge of former farmland (I think there once was a house nearby, as there’s a covered wellhead). That field has been awaiting the chance...
There’s a gorgeous and bountiful fig tree in my neighborhood. It’s in the back corner of a yard that backs onto a public footpath, and the tree’s branches hang over the fence on two sides. I discovered it last year, in the height of the fig season, when birds, bees,...
There’s a cactus outside my office window that’s between three and four feet tall. We planted it two or three years ago and it’s really taken hold (no blossoms yet, but I remain hopeful that one year it will be mature enough to bloom!). A couple of weeks ago, I...